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FOREWORD 

On May the fourth, 1906, the Rhode Island Citizens' Historical 
Association held a public celebration of Rhode Island's Declaration 
of Independence, declared and proclaimed on the 4th of May, 1776, 
in the State Capitol at Providence. While the act had been noted 
by historians, this was the first public celebration ever made of this 
important event, and the honor of originating a public recog- 
nition of it is due to our Association. The introductory address 
by President Bicknell dealt with the importance of the Act, the 
details of its adoption, and its value as the culmination of a series 
of initiative procedures of the colony, which have made Rhode 
Island history famous. Honorable Charles Warren Lippitt gave 
an historical address, exhaustive in its character, proving beyond 
doubt or cavil the claim of the State, that Rhode Island was the 
first of the American colonies to assert its independence of Great 
Britain, two months in advance of the Declaration of Independence 
at Philadelphia, July 4th, 1776. The address of Governor Lippitt, 
with its accompanying documents, is one of the most valuable con- 
tributions to our historical literature and every copy should be 
sacredly preserved. 

The celebration of 1906 met with such favor with the press 
and people that the Association voted to recognize the day as an 
annual celebration, and on May fourth, 1907, the celebration was 
held in the old State Capitol on North Main and Benefit Streets, 
Providence, in the Hall of Representives, now the Court Room 
of the 5th Judicial Court, where the Declaration was presented and 
adopted in 1776. Addresses were made by President Bicknell, Hon. 
Theodore F. Green, Governor James H. Higgins and Hon. Ros- 
well B. Burchard, and an original poem was read by Mrs. Harriette 



M. Miller. The addresses and poems, making a pamphlet of 36 
pages, has been printed and distributed to the members of the As- 
sociation and the General Assembly. 

The present volume gives the addresses and poems at the 
celebration at the old State Capitol, Providence, on May the fourth, 
1908, and also includes the addresses of President Bicknell and 
William A. Mowry, and the poem of Mrs. Harriette A. Miller at 
the celebration of the Twenty-Fifith Anniversary of the Rhode 
Island Citizens' Historical Association. The address of Hon. 
Roswell B. Burchard, given on the fourth of May, has been solicited 
for publication, but may appear in a separate edition. 

In addition to the exercises at the Old Capitol, President Bick- 
nell placed memorial flags at the graves of Hon. Metcalf Bowler, 
Governor Nicholas Cook, Hon. Stephen Hopkins, Providence, 
Deputy Governor William Bradford, Hon. Shearjashub Bourne, 
Bristol, and General Thomas Allin, and Edward Bosworth, Barring- 
ton, all members of the General Assembly of 1776. 

The following testimonial from the Boston (Mass.) Trans- 
cript, a daily newspaper of the first rank in New England, testifies 
to the interest in our commonwealth : 

RHODE ISLAND'S "FOURTH." 

"Although in proportion to her size Rhode Island makes as 
much noise as her sister on the Fourth of July, the 4th of May is 
the real anniversary of her independence as she views it, and that 
is the occasion of widespread patriotic observances within her 
borders, today. It was upon that date in 1776 that, unable to await 
the more comprehensive declaration that cut us loose, even from 
the pretence of allegiance to King George, the General Assembly 
of the little Colony proclaimed that "we are obliged by necessity 
and it becomes our highest duty to use every means that God and 
nature have furnished us in support of our inviolable rights and 



privileges ; to oppose that power which is extended only for our 
destruction." So it wrote out the King's name and authority in all 
its decrees and general public transactions, and substituted that of 
the Colony. 

Of course unaided it could not for long have maintained its 
liberties so boldly declared. Nevertheless, a sentimental and pat- 
riotic interest attaches to the event, and it is well to keep it in the 
memory of the passing generations. The anniversary passed for 
over a century without special observance. Two years ago some 
notice began to be taken of it and to-day the commemorative ex- 
ercises are on a quite elaborate scale. The celebration at Provi- 
dence will take place in the old State House, where 132 years ago 
the decelaration was made. Flags are floating from public build- 
ings, school houses and the residences of such citizens as have 
caught the spirit of the occasion. Every city and town that has a 
battery will make it speak for the glory of the State." 

THOMAS WILLIAMS BICKNELL, 
President. 
The Rhode Island Citizens' Historical Association. 
December, 1908. 



PROGRAM 
A Patriotic Celebration 



OF THE 



One Hundred and Thirty-Second Anniversary 



OF THE 



Declaration of Independence 



ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 



OF THE 



COLONY OF RHODE ISLAND AND 
PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS 

MAY 4th, 1776 

Public Celebration Inaugurated by the 

The Rhode Island Citizens Historical 
Association 

1906 



EXERCISES 

ON MONDAY, MAY 4th, 1908 AT 3 P. M. 
At the Old State House on North Main Street 



PROVIDENCE R. I. 



MISS HELEN LOUISE AMES, Soloist 
MISS FLORENCE E. AMES, Accompanist 

HON. THOMAS W. BICKNELL, 

President of the Rhode Island Citizens Historical Association, 
will preside. 



i. Singing, The Old Hundredth Psalm, by the Congregation. 

2. Prayer, Rev. ' Thomas F. Doran, Vicar-General Providence 

Diocese. 

3. Vocal Solo, Miss Ames. 

4. Address by Thomas W. Bicknell, President of R. I. C. H. A. 

5. Singing, "America," by the Congregation. 

6. Reading of the Act Declaring Our Independence, by David J. 

White, Esq., Reading Clerk Senate, R. I. 

7. Vocal Solo, Miss Ames. 

8. Historical Address, by Hon. Roswell B. Burchard, A. B., 

LL. B. 

9. Original Poem, Mrs. F. Adelia Reynolds, Providence, R. I. 

10. Vocal Solo, Recessional, (Kipling), Miss Ames. 

11. Singing, "God Save the State." 

12. Benediction. 



A Declaration of Independence 

BY 

The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations 
Enacted by The General Assembly 

AT THE OLD STATE HOUSE IN PROVIDENCE, MAY 4, 1776 



AN ACT . 



Repealing an act, entitled "An Act, for the more effectually 
securing to His Majesty the allegiance of his subjects in this, his 
Colony and dominion of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions," and altering the forms of Commissions, of all writs and 
processes in the Courts, and of the oaths prescribed by law. 

Whereas, in all states, existing by compact, protection and 
allegiance are reciprocal, the latter being only due in consequence 
of the former; and, 

Whereas, George the Third, King of Great Britain, forgetting 
his dignity, regardless of the compact most solemnly entered into, 
ratified and confirmed to the inhabitants of this Colony by his 
illustrious ancestors, and, till of late, fully recognized by him, and 
entirely departing from the duties and character of a good King, 
instead of protecting, is endeavoring to destroy the good people 
of this Colony, and of all the United Colonies, by sending fleets 
and armies to America to confiscate our property, and spread fire, 
sword and desolation throughout our country, in order to compel 
us to submit to the most debasing and detestable tyranny ; whereby 
we are obliged by necessity, and it becomes our highest duty, to use 
every means with which God and nature have furnished us, in 
support of our inviolable rights and privileges, to oppose that 
power which is exerted only for our destruction. 



11 

Be it therefore enacted by this General Assembly, and by the 
authority thereof it is enacted, that an act, entitled "An Act for the 
more effectually securing to His Majesty the allegiance of his sub- 
jects, in this his Colony and dominion of Rhode Island and Provi- 
dence Plantations," be, and the same is hereby repealed. 

And be it further enacted by this General Assembly, and by 
the authority thereof, it is enacted, that in all commissions for 
offices, Civil and Military, and in all writs and processes in law, 
whether original, judicial or executory, civil or criminal, whereon 
the name and authority of the said King is made use of, the same 
shall be omitted, and in the room thereof, the name and authority 
of the Governor and Company of this Colony shall be substituted 
in the following words, to wit : 

The Governor and Company of the English Colony of 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. 

That all such commissions, writs and processes shall be other- 
wise of the same form and terms as they heretofore were; that 
the Courts of Law be no longer entitled nor considered as the 
King's Courts ; and that no instrument in writing, of any nature 
or kind, whether public or private, shall in the date thereof, men- 
tion the year of the said King's reign. 

Provided, nevertheless, that nothing in this act contained shall 
render void or vitiate any commission, writ, process or instrument 
heretofore made or executed, on account of the name and authority 
of the said King being therein inserted. 

Author of Declaration, Col. Jonathan Arnold, Providence. 



12 



THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 

OF 1776. 

The Hon. Nicholas Cooke, Governor. 

The Hon. William Bradford, Deputy Governor. 
ASSISTANTS. 



Mr. John Collins 
Mr. Ambrose Page, 
Mr. John Jepson, 
Mr. Jonathan Randall, 
Mr. William Potter, 



Maj.-Gen. Simeon Potter, 
Mr. John Sayles, Jr., 
Mr. James Arnold, 
Mr. Peter Phillips, 
Mr. Thomas Church. 



DEPUTIES. 

Newport. 

Mr. Gideon Wanton, 
Mr. Thomas Freebody, 
Col. Joseph Belcher. 

Providence. 

Mr. John Smith, 
Col. Amos Atwell. 

Portsmouth. 

Mr. John Coddington, 
Mr. John Thurston. 

Warzvick. 

Mr. Charles Holden, Jr., 
Col. John Waterman. 
Westerly. 
Maj.-Gen. Joshua Babcock, Col. Joseph Noyes. 

North Kingstown. 

Mr. Sylvester Gardner. 

South Kingstown. 

Mr. Samuel Babcock. 

East Greenwich. 

Mr. Thomas Shippee. 

Jamestown. 

Mr. Benjamin Underwood. 

Smith field. 

Capt. Andrew Waterman. 

Scituate. 

Mr. Christopher Potter. 



Mr. John Wanton, 
Mr. Samuel Fowler ; 
Mr. George Sears, 

Col. Jonathan Arnold, 
Mr. John Brown, 

Mr. Metcalfe Bowler, 



Mr. William Greene, 
Mr. Jacob Greene, 



Mr. John Northup, 
Capt. Samuel Seagar, 
Mr. Job Comstock, 
Capt. Samuel Carr, 
Mr. Daniel Mowry, Jr., 
Col. William West, 



13 

Glocester. 
Mr. Richard Steere. Col. Chad Brown 

Charlestown. 
Capt. Joseph Stanton, Jr., Mr. Jonathan Hazard. 

West Greenwich. 
Mr. Thomas Tillinghast, Mr. Judiah Aylworth. 

Coventry. 
Mr. Ephraim Westcott, Mr. Jeremiah Fenner. 

Exeter. 
Mr. George Pierce. 
Middletown. 
Mr. Joshua Barker, Mr. Nicholas Easton. 

Bristol. 
Mr. Shearjashub Bourne, Col. Nathaniel Pearce. 

Tiverton. 
Mr. Gideon Almy, Col. John Cooke. 

Little Compton. 
Capt. Thomas Brownell, Mr. Daniel Wilbur. 

Warren. 
Mr. Cromwell Child, Col. Sylvester Child. 

Cumberland. 
Mr. John Dexter, Capt. Elisha Waterman. 

Richmond. 
Mr. Samuel Tefft, Major Richard Bailey. 

Cranston. 
Mr. Andrew Harris, Mr. Zuriel Waterman. 

Johnston. 
Mr. John Fenner, Mr. Peleg Williams. 

North Providence. 
Major Thomas Olney, Mr. Jonathan Jenckes, Jr., 

Barrington 
Mr. Edward Bosworth, Capt. Thomas Allin. 

Hopkinton 
Mr. John Larkin, Mr. Thomas Wells. 

The Hon. Metcalfe Bowler, Speaker. 

Josias Lyndon, Clerk. 

Mr. Henry Ward, Secretary. 

Mr. Henry March ant, Attorney-General. 

Mr. Joseph Clarke, General Treasurer. 



AN ADDRESS 

BY 

THOMAS W. BICKNELL 

President of the Rhode Island Citizens Historical Association 
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF 1776 



The best evidence of our nobility is the measure of our appre- 
ciation of the deeds of great men in great crises of history, when 
high ideals draw men to noble self-sacrificing action. To this 
Touchstone we are invited today to test our patriotism and our love 
of Democracy. 

We meet again in this historic hall to commemorate the great 
event transacted here on the Fourth of May, 1776, and to honor 
the men of Rhode Island, who were the original actors in the 
immortal drama of freedom on the American Continent. The 
City of Philadelphia has its Independence Hall, whose very walls 
embalm the names and deeds of John Hancock and Samuel Adams, 
of Massachusetts, of Stephen Hopkins, Samuel Ward and William 
Ellery, of Rhode Island, of Roger Sherman and Oliver Wolcott of 
Connnecticut, of Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, of Charles 
Carroll of Carrolton, Maryland, of Thomas Jefferson and Richard 
Henry Lee of Virginia, of Edward Rutledge of South Carolina, and 
those other great compatriots who, by their signatures, written on 
the Fourth of July, 1776, created thirteen independent common- 
wealths on the eastern slope of the Alleghenies, and pledged "their 
lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor" in support of their 
Declaration. All honor to the great men, who created a new 
nation of independent states on this Western Continent, and thereby 
set the standards of liberty, around which the nations of the world, 
in their new birth into the family of Freedom, shall in time gather 
and align themselves. 



15 

This Hall of Representatives in this Old State House is Rhode 
Island's Independence Hall, its Palladium of Civil Liberty. 

Here, on Saturday, the Fourth Day of May, 1776 — Just two 
months before the United Declaration of the thirteen Colonies, in 
Independence Hall, Philadelphia, the Patriots of Rhode Island, 
by its General Assembly, took the great initiative for independence 
as they and their fathers had so often done before, in the forward 
march towards civil liberty. Single handed and alone, the little 
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, for one hun- 
dred and forty years loyal to the monarchy of Great Britain, clearly, 
vigorously and solemnly declared that "George the Third, King of 
Great Britain, forgetting his dignity, regardless of the compact most 
solemnly entered into, ratified and confirmed to the inhabitants of 
this Colony by his illustrious ancestors, and till of late, fully recog- 
nized by him, and entirely departing from the duties and character 
of a good King, instead of protecting, is endeavoring to destroy the 
good people of this Colony, and of all the United Colonies, by send- 
ing fleets and armies to America to confiscate our property, and 
spread fire, sword and desolation throughout our country, in order 
to compel us to submit to the most debasing and detestable tyranny ; 
whereby we are obliged by necessity, and it becomes our highest 
duty, to use every means which God and nature have furnished us, 
in support of our inviolable rights and privileges, to oppose that 
power which is exerted only for our destruction." 

By this Act, soon to be read in our hearing, Rhode Island 
stood forth the first free and independent commonwealth on the 
American Continent : yea more, the first and foremost in the history 
of the zvorld. For two months, she stood alone in her declaration 
of absolute independence from any power save the vested and in- 
alienable rights of sovereignty inherent in the body politic, whose 
name was not Rhode' Island, not the United States, not any local 
title, but rather that greater word Democracy, a name yet to be 



16 

written on the governmental parchment of every nation under 
Heaven. 

All honor to the grand yeomanry of this little Commonwealth 
that they wrote that grand word Democracy first and wrote it 
large to be read across the seas and for all recorded time. 

It is my purpose in a brief address to give a glimpse only of 
the scene and an account of a few of the chief actors in it in this 
hall, one hundred and thirty-two years ago today. But a setting is 
needed and the events of a twelve-month constitute it. The Battles 
of Concord Bridge and Lexington Common were fought April 19, 
1775. Rhode Island had raised an Army of Observation of fifteen 
hundred men to serve within or without the Colony. The Governor, 
Joseph Wanton, the third chief magistrate of that family, had refused 
to sign the commissions of the officers, had been suspended from 
official duties, and was subsequently deposed from the high office 
which he had held for six consecutive years, an act, the parallel 
of which does not appear in our colonial history. The Kentish 
Guards, organized in 1774, under the command of Col. James M. 
Varnum, with the two brothers, Nathaniel Greene and Christopher 
Greene, illustrious men of an illustrious race, with muskets on 
shoulders and as privates in the ranks, had marched through Provi- 
dence on their way to Boston, only to be called back by order of 
Governor Wanton at the Massachusetts line. The Continental 
Congress, a Providence idea, was in session in Philadelphia. 
Samuel Ward, the great patriot, late Governor, and delegate to the 
Continental Congress, had just been borne to his burial at Phila- 
delphia and William Ellery, of Newport, had been chosen his suc- 
cessor. 

The April election had elevated to the chief magistracy that 
distinguished patriot citizen of Providence, Nicholas Cooke, the 
great war governor of the colony, and a General Assembly of notable 
Rhode Island men of some of whom I shall speak. 



17 

The Governor, Hon. Nicholas Cooke, was a successful merchant 
and a distinguished citizen of Providence. He had been a leader 
in the Northern section of the colony, and had won a solid reputa- 
tion for sound principles of government, for resistance to the op- 
pressive acts of Great Britain and for heroic courage. He was 
sixty-nine years old, with manly life and vigor unabated. He ac- 
cepted the office of Governor at this period of his life, for already 
his doom seemed fixed by his acceptance of the office pro tern, to 
fill the Wanton vacancy. All men's thoughts and eyes turned to 
Nicholas Cooke as the man of and for the hour. Stephen Hopkins, 
then preparing for his memorable journey to Philadelphia, waited 
on Mr. Cooke, and urging the necessities of the crisis, secured his 
accecptance of an office, which probably meant death as a traitor to 
the Crown. 

William Bradford, of Bristol, the Lieutenant Governor, a 
descendant of Governor William Bradford, of Plymouth Colony, 
and the founder of the distinguished family in Rhode Island, was 
a patriotic leader in the cause of civil liberty. Bristol was also 
represented in the Upper House, or Senate by Simeon Potter, who 
had been elected as Major-General of the Rhode Island troops for 
the defence of our own and sister colonies. 

The Assistants, or Senators, ten in number, met in the Senate 
Chamber on the floor above. They with the Governor and Lieu- 
tenant Governor constituted at that time the Upper House or Senate, 
with the Governor as the presiding officer. 

Of the Assistants, John Collins, of Newport, was an active 
champion of the cause of American Independence, and was one of 
a committee sent to General Washington to inform him of the ex- 
posed condition of the colony, and to advise as to the best method 
for its defence. From 1778 to 1782, he was a representative of the 
State in the Continental Congress, and succeeded Governor Wil- 
liam Greene, 2nd, as Governor from 1786 to 1790. 

2 



18 

Ambrose Page was a Providence patriot, an active participant 
in the destruction of the Gaspee, the builder of two row-gallies of 
war, and always in the van of energetic workers in freedom's cause. 

John Sayles, Jr., was a member of the Senate during the years 
1774, 1775 and 1776, and in 1775 was the Chairman of a committee 
to raise five hunderd troops for colonial defense. 

John Jepson, of Portsmouth, was a member of the House of 
Deputies during the exciting events of 1772, 1773 and 1774, an 
assistant in 1775 and 1776 and later Chief Justice of the Court of 
Common Pleas for Newport. 

Col. James Arnold, of Warwick, had represented his town in 
both houses of the General Assembly, and held civil and military 
rank in the colony. He was a true patriot of the Arnold stamp. 

The House of Deputies, or Representatives, of sixty-four mem- 
bers, met in this Hall and was presided over by Hon. Metcalf 
Bowler, of Portsmouth, as its Speaker. Mr. Bowler was an enter- 
prising and wealthy merchant of Newport and was an early ad- 
vocate of protection to the rights and liberties of the colonies. As 
a member of this House from Newport for many years, and as a 
Justice of the Supreme Court of the Colony, Mr. Bowler was a 
strong and uncompromising enemy to the oppressive acts of the 
British Crown. He presided over the deliberations of this House 
from 1767 to August, 1776, when he was elected as Chief Justice of 
the Supreme Court of the Colony, in recognition of his high charac- 
ter and his valuable services. He died in_ Providence, in 1789 and 
a monument marks his grave in the cemetery of St. John's Church, 
on North Main Street, Providence. 

Providence sent four delegates to the House of Deputies, two 
of whom claim special notice. The first, Col. Jonathan Arnold, 
lawyer, literateur, doctor, legislator, statesman, Christian patriot, 
was the author of the State paper, which makes this day worthy of 
memory. He was a descendant of Thomas Arnold of Providence 



19 

(1661-5) and one of the many of that name who have made the 
Arnold family so noted in our Commonwealth. His character and 
deeds were so worthily set forth, May 4th, 1907, by Hon. Theodore 
Francis Green, a lineal descendent, that I need not dwell on them. 
The Declaration itself is his enduing monument. 

John Brown, of Providence, four generations from Chad 
Brown, a founder of the town, was one of the four brothers to whom 
Providence owes so much, John, Joseph, Nicholas and Moses. The 
capture and destruction of the Gaspee in Providence River, in 1772, 
was one of John Brown's enterprising illustrations of his initiative, 
his daring, and his patriotism. Had he or his associates been appre- 
hended, transportation and death were certain, he knew too well ; 
but like men at Marathon or Thermopylae, nothing was too costly 
to be with-held in Freedom's cause. He was forty years old when 
he advocated and by his powerful influence and following, led the 
Patriot Assembly to adopt the act of Rhode Island Independence. 

In 1775, the army at Boston, was reduced to four rounds of 
ammunition to a man, when one of Mr. Brown's vessels brought a 
ton and a half of gun-powder to Providence, which was at once 
sent overland to Cambridge, to supply the troops. 

From 1776 to 1779, Mr. Brown served on twenty-six Commit- 
tees or Commissions in the Colonial service. Later he threw the 
weight of his great influence in favor of the adoption of the Con- 
stitution. He was elected to Congress in 1784, 1785 and 1789, and 
served on the commission to erect the Federal buildings at Wash- 
ington. 

Of the Warwick delegation was William Greene, son of Gov- 
ernor William Greene, of that most distinguished Rhode Island 
family springing from John Greene, surgeon, of Warwick, of 1643. 
His father had served the colony as Deputy Governor and Governor 
for thirteen years, embracing r^me of the most stormy periods in 
our colonial history. A few years later, the son, now a representa- 



20 

tive in the Assembly, was called to serve the State as Governor for 
eight years (1778 to 1786) during the no less stormy period of the 
Confederation and the struggle for the Federal Constitution. While 
William and Jacob Greene were serving in the Councils of State at 
Providence, their cousins, Nathaniel and Christopher were engaged 
in the Councils of War with Gen. Washington at Cambridge. The 
Puritan and Quaker blood of the great family of Greenes was 
raised to fever heat by the oppressive acts of a tyrannical govern- 
ment, and by voice and vote, by pen and sword, they wrought and 
fought for Liberty. 

The town of Westerly was represented by a stalwart patriot in 
the person of Hon. Joshua Babcock, who was Major General of the 
Colonial Militia. Mr. Babcock was born in 1707, graduated from 
Yale College in 1725, studied medicine in Boston and in England, 
and practiced as a physician in his native town. It is said that he 
read the Bible daily in Latin or Greek ; was fond of the best litera- 
ture and held a controlling influence in his section of the State. He 
was a warm friend of Gov. Samuel Ward, whose home was at 
Westerly. Benjamin Franklin made his palatial mansion on Rhodes 
Hill, his home, while in this section, and we are told that he attached 
the lightning rods on the Babcock house. Dr. Babcock was at one 
time Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Colony. His de- 
votion to liberty was a passion and he lived to see his native colony 
a free and independent state, as his vote declared it to be on May 
4, 1776. 

From the East side of the Bay came another splendid defender 
of the faith in the person of Shearjashub Bourne of Bristol. Mr. 
Bourne and his distinguished brother, Benjamin, carried the blood 
of a noble ancestry in their veins and devoted themselves to the 
cause of the people in the great struggle for freedom. Mr. Bourne 
was a member of the Colonial Committee of Safety, was for several 
years a Justice and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and an earn- 



21 

est champion of the colony as against the King. His vote was 
"Aye I' in a firm, clear note on the adoption of the Declaration. 

The town of Smithfield was represented by a stalwart son of 
independence and liberty in Judge Daniel Mowry, a man of superior 
intellectual ability and unusual practical knowledge of men and pub- 
lic affairs. Born in 1729, he was elected to the General Assembly for 
ten years from 1766 to October, 1776, when he was chosen Judge of 
the Court of Common Pleas, the duties of which office he discharged 
with great ability and fidelity. He was one of the foremost men in 
Northern Rhode Island during the Revolutionary War, before and 
after. In 1780 and 1781, Judge Mowry was elected to Congress 
with Gen. Varnum, Gov. Collins and Ezekiel Cornell. He was a 
vigorous man, a clear and forcible speaker, and his great earnestness 
and sincerity enabled him to wield a powerful influence over his 
hearers. His voice and vote were for Independence with an empha- 
sis in keeping with the positive Mowry character. 

Gladly would I make record of the whole of this assemblage of 
patriotic Rhode Islanders, but time forbids. Read the list and note 
the names of old Rhode Island families whose ancestors came with 
Coddington, Williams, Clance, Holden, Gorton and Arnold, — 
Waterman, Harris, Jenckes, Steere, Potter, Wilbur, Child, Dexter, 
Manton, Randall, Tillinghast, Hazard, Fenner and the rest, — names 
which History will preserve and around which the halo of brilliant 
action will shine forth with increasing lustre with the growing years. 

Loyalty to my native town compels a reference to the two noble 
citizens, Edward Bosworth and Capt. Thomas Allin, of Barrington. 
Capt. Allin was one of the first to march to Boston and Cambridge 
in the defence of Boston, gave himself to the colonial service for 
the whole of the Revolutionary War, and at its close bore the 
rank of Brigadier General in the state militia. Later his vote 
untied the tie for and against the Federal Constitution, and his 



22 

vote with that of his colleague Hon. Samuel Allen, gave a major- 
iy of two for its adoption by the State of Rhode Island in 1790. 

If the day has the significance which we claim, a few plain 
duties lie before us. 

It should be recognized and honored by all the people of the 
State, by the General Assembly, the successor of that of 1776, and 
by all exercising authority. All the men who had a part in placing 
Rhode Island in the front rank of free nations, and who by their 
voice and vote, placed themselves in the front rank of wise legisla- 
tors and true patriots, should be recognized and honored by the 
State. 

The towns and cities of Rhode Island should recognize and 
honor the citizen legislators of their choice, who so honorably and 
fearlessly recorded the sentiments of their constituents in the mak- 
ing of a free Commonwealth. Decoration Day should honor the 
men who made the nation, as well as those who fought to preserve 
it. Flags and flowers, salutes and oratory belong to the men of 
1776, as much as to the men of 1861. True patriotism will gather 
in its embrace all great souls who have helped to make and save the 
State, whose foundations were broad enough and strong enough on 
which to erect an Empire of States, the Great Republic of the West. 



May 4th, 1776 

By F. ADELIA REYNOLDS 

PRELUDE 

Mine eyes have seen a vision of Rhode Island's early day, 
Of her noble pioneers in her forest gloom and way, 
And the Red Man's cheery welcome on the waters of the bay— 
And Hope her anchor strong. 

To-day the noisy streamlets which were once the wild-wood rills, 
Turn the myriad wondrous spindles of her valleys' busy mills, 
And where was once the forest is now city on the hills, 
And Hope her anchor firm! 

I ask not the muses to aid in the task 

Of telling my story to-day — 
Far nobler my theme than heroes of myth, 

No Helen inspires my chaste lay ! 
But, come thou, oh, North wind, and come thou, sweet South ! 

Come, Spirit of East and of West — 
Tell thou the story, the wonderful story, 

With patriot's love and true zest! 
Like prophet of old, in vision so clear, 

Clothe thou the dry bones with life! 
Let philosophy give the true reason for facts, 

And poetry sweetly run rife ! 
No country in Europe the scene of our tale, 

But America's free virgin soil. 
Our characters seek not the rich prairie lands, 

But in rocky New England they toil. 
'Twas once on a time and long years ago, 

A band crossed o'er the wide sea ; 
They were men brave and bold, and women of faith, 

Leaving for aye the home tree. 
They came to the wilderness for freedom, they said, 



24 



For freedom of conscience so rare. 
They were willing to bear all its dangers and toils, 

And all of the burdens to share. 
But, once they were settled in the bright new land, 

How astonished they were to find 
That e'en in their midst dissensions arose — 

That everyone had his own mind ! 
So come thou, oh North wind, and come thou, sweet South, 

Come, Spirit of East and of West; 
Tell thou the story, the sad, olden story, 

Of might making right, for the rest ! 
Then Roger Williams arose in his might, 

And proclaimed a new truth to the world. 
"Freedom of conscience," he announced, "is our right ! 

Soul liberty ever !" he hurled. 
Freedom of conscience between man and his God ; 

Prescribed, not by new world or old ! 
Soul liberty, not for a band, but each man, 

A treasure as precious as gold. 
So, "might -making right" sent its firm fiat forth, 

And Williams soon sought a new home. 
Sick and alone, through forest and wild, 

Trusting e'er in his God did he roam. 
He rested a time on fair Seekonk's bank, 

Hoping there he might quietly stay, 
But a "most loving message" from Winthrop was sent, 

So he started again on his way ! 
'Twas then in his bark he crossed the bright stream, 

And saw a small group on the shore, 
"Whatcheer, Netop," the grave chieftain said, 

It echoed the centuries o'er ! 
"What cheer," said the Indian, and "what cheer" say we ! 

Recall we the story to-day, 
How the swift-flying years, and the centuries gone 

Have passed on the shores of the bay. 
So, come thou., oh, North wind, and come thou, sweet South- 
Come, Spirit of East and of West, 



25 



Tell thou the story, the rare thrilling story, 

Of little Rhode Island, the best ! 
For, tho' small in size, in her hist'ry she's great ! 

Roger Williams and other men true. 
Laid firm the foundation, and led on by Hope 

Left freedom for me and for you ! 
At the head of the loveliest bay in the world. 

There gathered, from near and from far, 
Men brave and bold, and women of faith, L 

Still guided by Freedom's bright star. 
Freedom of thought, as of word and of deed, 

Made the name of fair Providence great; 
And years have but added to that fame well deserved, 

And helped to develop our State. 
So the names of these men have been handed down, 

Williams and Arnold and Clark ! 
And Blackstone the thinker, on lone Study-hill farm, 

And others who made, each, his mark. 
Through colonial days, as New England waxed great, 

This brave little State led the way, 
When on Hist'ry's page are recorded rare deeds, 

Be sure they were born on this bay ! 
To the story of Gaspee we proudly refer; 

Revolution's first combat was there. 
'Twas Providence, too, which first passed an act 

Favoring union 'gainst Britain to bear. 
Boston made tea in her harbor one night; 

Our city burned her's on the square. 
Every man was a patriot, every call he obeyed, 

Wives were glad all their burdens to share. 
Every year, July Fourth, our country goes wild, 

Remembering the year seventy-six; 
When the colonies declared themselves free from King George, 

And beyond the reach of his tricks. 
But how proudly we think of two months before — 

On the fourth of poetic sweet May, 
When little Rhode Island declared herself free, 



26 

Antedating the National day. 

So now we are meeting to celebrate here, 

That daring and wonderful act, 
When brave "Little Rhody" again led the way 

With a courage she never has lacked. 
Now come thou, oh North wind, and come thou, sweet South. 

Come, Spirit of East and of West ! 
Tell thou the story, the glorious story, 

Obeying descendants' behest. 
'Twas the foundation principle in Rhode Island that led ! 

Individual freedom her boast. 
It made her grand hist'ry, for, tho' little., she stands 
'Mong the greatest from east to west coast. 
'Twas the plan of our God, that from North and sweet South, 

From East and from West, they should meet 
On Atlantic's gray shore, heavy trials to bear. 

While hastening true freedom to greet. 
Was it also His plan that in all this great land 

Our little Rhode Island should lead? 
But this we do know — on that day long ago, 

Hist'ry correctly recorded her deed. 
And so, oh thou North wind, and so, thou sweet South, 

So Spirit of East and of West — 
Thou hast told us the story of Rhode Island's glory — 

Her grand future recordeth the rest! 



Addresses and Poem 



ON 



The Twenty-Fifth Anniversary 



OF 



THE FOUNDING OF 



The Rhode Island Citizens 
Historical Association 



THOMAS W. BICKNELL, 

PRESIDENT 



March, 1908 



PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND 



AN ADDRESS 

BY 

THOMAS WILLIAMS BICKNELL 

PRESIDENT OF 

The Rhode Island Citizens* Historical Association 

AT THE 

TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY 

MARCH, 1908 



A good appetite for historic food is evidence of moral and in- 
tellectual health. Mental dyspepsia arises from poor nourishment. 
A man who feeds only on the daily paper will die of neurasthenia, 
while he who lives on the vital food of truth, as revealed in the 
progress of society and the evolution of manhood and government, 
will stand a good chance of a limited immortality, and a better one 
of an eternal life with good men and women. A man who makes 
the acquaintance of Socrates, Moses, Paul, John, Marcus Aurelius, 
Martin Luther, Shakespeare, Milton, George Washington, Abraham 
Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Rhode Island worthies, on this 
side, will be the sooner admitted to good society on the other. 
History is not only the food and tonic of youth, but it is the foun- 
tain of perpetual life. In truth, youth has made history. Young 
men have fought and won the world's greatest battles. The youthful 
David saved Israel. The young man, Joseph in Egypt, made the 
Jewish race and the Christ possible. Philip of Macedon won his 
first battle at 24 ; founded Phillippi at 26 ; made peace with Athens 
at 36, and died at the head of the great Empire of Macedon at 46. 



30 

Alexander won his first great battle at 18; came to the throne 
at 20; at 21 had subdued Greece; had conquered Egypt and founded 
Alexandria at 24; overthrew the Persian Empire at 25; invaded 
India at 30, and died, the ruler of the Eastern world he had con- 
quered, at 33. 

Ceasar was a soldier at 20; Pontifex Maximus at 37; con- 
quered all Gaul at 42; crossed the Rubicon at 51, and died at the 
hands of Brutus at 56. 

Napoleon won his first campaign at 27 in Italy ; conquered 
Italy at 28 ; was master of Egypt at 29 ; Emperor of France at 35 ; 
King of Italy at 36; met Waterloo at 46. Had he turned historian 
at St. Helena, he would not have died of melancholia at 53. 

Luther was 43 when he challenged the Church with his 95 
theses against Indulgences. 

Joan of Arc saved France at 17, and was burned at the stake 
at 19. 

John Hancock was 39 when he signed the Declaration of In- 
dependence, and Washington was 43 when he took command of 
the Continental Army. 

Jesus, the Christ, began his world conquest at 33. 

Rhode Island was planted by young men and women. Roger 
Williams was 36 ; William Coddington, 38 ; John Clarke, 30 ; Harry 
Vane, 27; Benedict Arnold, 22; William Harris, 36; John Green, 
surgeon, 40; Anne Hutchinson, 49; Samuel Gorton, 46; Stephen 
Hopkins entered public life at 21 and signed the Declaration of In- 
dependence at 69, with the words, "Though my hand trembles, my 
heart is firm." 

Nathanael Greene was 33 when called to the command of the 
Army of Observation, and Governor William Sprague was 31 at 
the Battle of Bull Run. 

Grant was a Major General at 39, won Vicksburg and Chatta- 



31 

noogo at 41 ' r made Lieutenant General at 42, and at 43 received 
Lee's surrender at Appomatox. 

Theodore Roosevelt was a legislator in New York at 24; Gov- 
ernor of New York at 40, and President of the United States at 
42. What other worlds he has to conquer we know not. 

Rhode Island youthful individualism has led in initiative prin- 
ciples and instructive legislation. 

There are four reasons why youth has made history. The first 
is that youth has high ideals. A man dies with his ideals. The 
second is that youth builds on a creative imagination and an abound- 
ing hope and courage. Still more, conscience has its most efficient 
activities in youth. The energies of manhood are at their best. 

The student of history lives in the atmosphere of the new life. 
The real life of man and the great truths of history, to wit, — Right- 
eousness, Honesty, Sacrifice, Liberty, are the real Immortals, and 
the members of the Rhode Island Citizens' Historical Association 
are the disciples of the Immortals. 

This Association was organized in March, 1883, of veterans of 
the town, old-time merchants and others who wanted to renew their 
youth in a comfortable home downtown, to meet socially, smoke 
their pipes, and talk over their young days — a sort of youthful re- 
vival meeting. Governor Elisha Dyer, Senior, more than any other 
man is responsible for our being here to-day. It was in his office, 
No. 26 Westminster Street, that the first meeting of sixty-eight 
persons was held on March 1, 1883. The sum total of the ages of 
sixty-two persons present was 4.647, or an average of seventy-five 
years. Stephen Hawkins, age 91, was the oldest, and William A. 
Mowry, age 54, was the youngest of the company. Seventeen of 
the group were over eighty years old, and they called themselves 
Veterans. They had, in the main ceased to be actors in life's drama, 
and now chose to be seekers and recorders of their own deeds and 
the deeds of other men. That was a remarkable body of men. Its 



32 

first President had been Governor of the State from 1857 to 1859. 
He had also been a soldier and an officer in the War of the 
Rebellion. Thomas J. Hill had been a distinguished manufacturer 
of the State, a legislator, a banker. He knew Providence when it 
had only 16,000 inhabitants and had been a part of its growth and 
prosperity. Thomas Davis had been a successful manufacturer and 
an active politician, representing the State in the Congress of the 
United States 1853-1855. Davis Park, in the Third Ward, is his 
memorial gift to the city. Charles W. Parsons, a graduate of Har- 
vard College and an eminent physician of the city, was a real student 
of history and an author of several pamphlets. Henry C. Clark 
was a man of striking individuality and of great independence of 
thought and action. John R. Bartlett had been Secretary of State 
from 1855 to 1872, had edited the Colonial Records, was librarian 
of the John Carter Brown Library, and one of the most valuable 
collectors of that invaluable gathering of historical works. James 
C. Bucklin was an architect and builder of Providence. He de- 
signed the Arcade, the Butler Hospital for the Insane, and was the 
architect of 300 mills and many private residences in all parts of 
New England. 

William G. R. Mowry was a lumber merchant, conducting a 
large business, and was also engaged in the burning of lime. He 
was one of the Commissioners to build the City Hall, and was ac- 
tive in temperance, religious and charitable work. 

Deacon James H. Read, then 82 years old, had been engaged 
in the dry goods business in Providence 66 years and had built up, 
on North Main Street and at Butler Exchange, a large importing 
and jobbing house. He was a Deacon in the First Baptist Church 
from 1834 till his death; was an active Christain man in all depart- 
ments of work, especially interested in students in colleges and sem- 
inaries, and at 80 maintained his habit of working fourteen hours a 
day. 



33 

Arnold Peters was a draughtsman and expert machinist, and 
spent his life in the erection of mills, construction of machinery, etc. 
He was a man of remarkable activity and energy, and joined this 
Association at the age of 81. 

William Spencer was a country lad from Norwich, coming to 
Providence about 1832, where he built up a successful grocery 
business. He was a member of the city government for 20 years. 
He was a candidate for Mayor in 1880. 

Captain Cyrus B. Manchester was a noted seaman, command- 
ing the largest American ships in the emigrant and merchandise 
lines. He circumnavigated the globe twice. After leaving the sea, 
he engaged in the immigrant passenger and exchange business, and 
was agent for underwriters. He was a devotee of horticulture and 
active in the Horticultural Society. During the Dorr War, he 
served as a Captain in the militia. He was in the city government 
seven years, and chairman of the Commissioners to build Point 
street school-house. 

Rev. E. M. Stone was minister of the Free Unitarian Church, 
on Benefit Street. He was deeply interested in all social and edu- 
cational, as well as religious, movements and was always a minister 
of good works in the city. 

Rev. Frederick Dennison was the successful pastor of several 
Baptist Churches, historian of Westerly, and a poet whose lines 
were always gladly enjoyed. He died while in the service of this 
Association as its President. 

Rev. S. Brenton Shaw was an Episcopal clergyman of ability 
and success, and his interest in historic and public affairs continued 
till his death. 

Of W. A. Mowry, J. N. Arnold and Richmond P. Everett, we 
will let them speak for themselves. They are the only living char- 
ter members. 

These are snapshots of a few of the founders of this Associa- 
3 



34 

tion, — all men, not a woman in the list. It would be of interest to 
know who was the first woman admitted, and when. 
The Presidents have been : 

Elisha Dyer, Sr 1883-1884— 1 

B. B. Hammond 1884-1887— 3 

Frederick Dennison 1887-1901 — 14 

Daniel A. Cook 1901-1904 — 3 

Elisha Dyer, Jr 1904-1905 — 1 

Thomas W. Bicknell 1905 

The Association has held more than three hundred and fifty 
regular and special meetings, at most of which historical papers have 
been read and discussed. 

In 1905, the name was changed by the omission of the word 
"Veteran," a title which belonged to the founders, but had ceased 
to be applicable to the membership of recent date. The name not 
only falsified the membership, but it gave a false impression of and 
hindered its progressive work. Veterans are supposed to have re- 
tired from the service either from age or infirmity. We were turn- 
ing our faces to the rising rather than the setting sun, and entering 
on rather than leaving the service. 

Twenty-five years ago the Association had 102 members. We 
now have over 300 active members. Then only men were admitted 
to membership. Now one-third of our members are women, and 
the ratio is rapidly growing. 

With our name, the purposes of our Association have changed 
and instead of being a "Home for the Infirm," or a "Sailors' Snug 
Harbor," we are now an active student body, interested in historic 
study in natural and normal ways. We are aiming to do construc- 
tive work and to encourage the study of local history ( 1 ) among our 
membership, (2) among the pupils of our schools, and (3) by public 
addresses, newspaper articles and other agencies, among the people. 



35 

Our Saturday Outings at historic places have enabled our mem- 
bers to come in contact with the genius loci of the transaction. 
We have traversed the town streets with Roger Williams, Mary 
Dyer, Richard Scott and Benedict Arnold; have fought again the 
battle of Rhode Island on Butts and Quaker Hills, Portsmouth, 
and have witnessed the tragedy of the Michael Pierce Fight at the 
Ford of the Blackstone. We have resurrected Rhode Island Inde- 
pendence Day so that it may soon be publicly recognized as a State 
holiday, and have been active in memorials and monuments at his- 
toric sites. 

We propose to trace out, as far as may be possible, the historic 
life of the towns of Rhode Island, and to awaken in the minds of 
the people the duty of educating children in the events which have 
made the communities noted. We are working to preserve the 
mortuary monuments in our cemeteries and so secure a record of 
the tombstones throughout the State. We are organizing historic 
clubs in our schools and elsewhere, to recognize historic days and 
to make trips to historic places. 

We are, in fact a school of historic study, now in the primary 
stage, but we can see such possibilities before us that we are in- 
spired to undertake what at first seemed almost an impossible task. 
We have the press with us, and with our present plans we hope in 
the near future to show that we are doing a much needed work in 
the recognition of the historic riches of our State, and in awaken- 
ing in the minds of our whole poulation a deeper love for the present, 
because of our splendid past. Our membership sweeps the gamut 
from fourteen to eighty- four years, but all are possessed of the spir- 
it of historic youth, and it is hard to tell which is young or which 
old. In the life of yesterday is the germ of the life of to-morrow. 
Our note to-day is one of cheer and courage for historic work, for 
as we touch the new-old life of the past we become transformed into 
knights, panoplied for the future. 



36 

The Rhode Island Citizens Historical Association, on its 25th 
anniversary, no longer 

"Weeps o'er its wounds, or tales of sorrow done, 
Shoulders its crutch, and shows how fields were won." 
It has entered on a young manhood, holding the truth of 
Achilles to Odysseus ; "I would rather toil as a day laborer on the 
earth, than reign here as prince of dead multitudes." Apollo's form 
is on our mental shield: the god of light, of life, of warmth, of 
beauty, of perpetual youth, strength, and endurance. While we 
stand guard over the historic records of the past, we 
"Believe the best is yet to be, 
The last of life, for which the first was made." 

HISTORICAL REVIEW. 

The Rhode Island Citizens' Historical Association owes its life 
to the Hon. Elisha Dyer, Governor of Rhode Island from May, 
1857, to May, 1859. He was the son of Elisha Dyer, a merchant 
and manufacturer of Providence, who was the son of Anthony and 
Sarah Bishop Dyer of Gloucester, R. I. Of Elisha Dyer, Senior, it 
is recorded that he would not accept a political office, and that he 
never would accept over six per cent, for the use of money. 

This Dyer family, by the way, is in straight descent from 
William and Mary Dyer, of London, England, who settled at Bos- 
ton in 1635 ' were banished to Rhode Island in 1638 for Quakerism, 
where William became clerk of the Newport Colony, and both 
were leaders in the Quaker faith, for which Mary Dyer gave her 
life on the scaffold on Boston Common in 1660, being possessed, 
as the historians say, "with the insane desire for martyrdom." On 
the mother side, the Dyers are lineal descendants of Gabriel Ber- 
non, a merchant of an ancient and honorable family of La Rochelle, 
France, who was a Huguenot refugee in 1688; became a dis- 
tinguished citizen of Massachusetts and Rhode Island colonies ; was 



37 

instrumental in founding Trinity Episcopal Church, Newport, St. 
Paul's, Wickford, and St. John's, Providence, and died in Provi- 
dence, 1736. 

In giving an account of the origin of this Association, Gov. 
Dyer refers to the incident that on his return (August, 1882) from 
a year's absence in London, he noted "the fast increasing absence 
of familiar facts and faces," "changes which he had not so pain 
fully realized when in daily contact with them," and he says, "I felt 
it almost a conscientious duty to preserve the record of what re- 
mained and if possible to recall that of the past. I was also stimu- 
lated," he says, "by the hope of promoting the interest of the Rhode 
Island Historical Society, of which I have been so many years a 
member." 

A few days before the first social and informal meeting, Gov- 
ernor Dyer said that while passing through Dorrance street, he 
observed workmen demolishing the old stone building, known as 
the Dorrance Street Theatre. The thought that other old land- 
marks must sooner or later succumb to the inevitable and uncon- 
querable march of progress, prompted him to call a meeting of his 
old-time associates, acquaintances, and others. 

A REMARKABLE COMPANY OF MEN. 

Accordingly, on the first day of March, 1883, there met at the 
office of ex-Governor Dyer, Room 19, No. 26 Westminster street, 
at 3 o'clock P. M., a company of the old-time merchants of Provi- 
dence to talk over the former condition of the old business marts 
of Providence and prepare a sketch of the old streets for the 
archives of the Rhode Island Historical Society. From about 
seventy-five invitations extended sixty-eight persons were present, 
all but six of whom recorded the years of their birth. The sum 
total of the ages of the sixty-two old-time merchants of this city 
of record was 4,647, an average of seventy-five years. The oldest 



38 

person present was Stephen Hawkins, aged 91, of 43 Governor 
street, and the youngest was William A. Mowry, aged 54, of Woon- 
asquatucket avenue. Seventeen of the company were over eighty 
years of age. Dr. Charles W. Parsons presided and J. Erastus 
Lester was the recorder. Mr. George Beverly, of 51 John street, 
set the ball of discussion rolling by giving information relative to 
the old Washington Insurance building, on the corner of West- 
minster street and Washington Row. Interesting facts, amusing 
stories and dramatic incidents occupied the attention of these Provi- 
dence veterans, and the secretary states, "there was lively discus- 
sion at all times and some ludicrous events were mentioned." So 
much interest was awakened in and by this meeting that the "old- 
time merchants" adjourned to meet on Thursday, March 15th, to 
organize an association auxiliary to the Rhode Island Historical 
Society. At that meeting, presided over by Mr. William A. Mowry, 
it was "Resolved, That the recent informal meeting of veteran 
citizens of this city, at the office of ex-Governor Elisha Dyer, and 
the interest awakened in historical matters connected with this city 
and state thereby, justifies the organization of an association auxil- 
iary to the Rhode Island Historical Society, to be called 'The Vet- 
eran Citizens' Historical Association,' the object of which will be 
the search for, and record of, such information pertaining to the 
history and traditions of Providence and of the State of Rhode 
Island, as shall be of permanent interest and value to our citizens 
and to historic literature." 

A printed report of the first year's work of the Association is 
to be found in the secretary's record book, prepared by Secretary 
Hammond, who took an active and lively intrest in the work. He 
says, "Four informal meetings were held before organization and 
fourteen regular meetings since, at which more than twenty papers 
were read by prominent Providence gentlemen, among whom ap- 
pear the names of Governor Dyer, Edward Field, H. N. Slater. 



39 

W. M. Bailey, Rev. Frederick Denison, Augustine Jones, W. A. 
Mowry, Thomas Harkness, Mrs. Harriet A. Brownell, Rev. S. 
Brenton Shaw, George Beverly, and others. 

Prof. William Gammell, the president of the Rhode Island His- 
torical Society, in his annual address refers to the work of this 
Association as follows: "No result of these newly developed tastes 
is more striking than that which is found in the formation and 
services of the Association of veteran citizens for historical inqui- 
ries which has been formed in Providence. It grew out of the 
interviews and conversations of a few elderly gentlemen who took 
pleasure in comparing together their personal recollections of the 
town as it was in the time of their boyhood. Their conversation 
related at first to the spots where certain famous buildings used to 
stand, to the wharves and water lines at which great ships used to 
land their cargoes, and at length they have extended to almost every 
feature of Providence and its environs as they were early in the 
present century, and even to the traditions relating to the people 
and events which have come down from still earlier periods. By 
its agency many historical memoranda have been brought to light, 
and important historical papers have been prepared for publication, 
some of which have been deposited in our archives." 

Secretary Hammond adds: "A great future, an undiscovered 
country, of almost magical historical information, lies just beyond 
and about us; into this let us hasten and reap our reward." He 
records the departure of Samuel James, the first president-elect, 
Edwin M. Stone, Duty Evans, Arnold Peters and George W. Dan- 
ielson, "as silently as the ebbing of a tide, as the flowing away of a 
stream, as the passing out of daylight into twilight beyond our 
mortal sight." 

He reports one hundred and fifty members still left at the close 
of the first year, "a part of whom are ladies, and thus both wheels 
are on one chariot." 



40 

Treasurer Everett reported the Association out of debt, with 
$2.03 in the treasury. Collections had been made to the amount of 
$106.40, of which $53.02 came from the Shaw Memorial concert. 
The expenses amounted to $104.37. 

On account of severe illness and sore bereavement in the death 
of his wife, Governor Dyer resigned the presidency at the close of 
the first year, and Secretary Hammond was elected president, and 
Rev. F. Denison secretary, each holding these offices by annual 
election until 1887, when Secretary Denison was chosen president 
to fill the office made vacant by the death of President B. B. Ham- 
mond. Mrs. H. A. Horton succeeded Mr. Richmond P. Everett as 
treasurer in 1885, and served until 1888, when W. B. Spencer was 
chosen, serving until the election of our present treasurer, Mrs. 
Hattie W. B. Chafee, in 1891. 

Rev. Frederic Denison occupied the presidential chair from 
1887 till 1901, followed by Daniel A. Cook from 1901 to 1903, by 
Elisha Dyer from December, 1903, to February 1905, who was 
succeeded by Thomas W. Bicknell, the present president. 

Rev. S. B. Morse was elected secretary July 11, 1887, but J. N. 
Arnold acted as secretary until June, 1888, when Noah J. "Arnold 
was elected and served until May 8, 1893, when we were introduced 
to the voluminous, luminous and somewhat picturesque records of 
Daniel A. Cook, who filled this important office to the great pleasure 
and satisfaction of the society and his own personal enjoyment, 
until his promotion to the presidency in 1901. Francis Gallagher, 
John H. Brown, J. H. Hall, Jr., M. H. Paddock and Charles H. 
Eddy have been Mr. Cook's successors. 

The organization was incorporated under the name, "The 
Rhode Island Veteran Citizens' Historical Association," but the 
name was changed to the Rhode Island Citizens' Historical Asso- 
ciation, by unanimous vote, at the April meeting, 1905. 

Since March, 1883, this Association has held monthly meet- 



41 

ings for ten months in each year, and its regular and special meet- 
ings number more than three hundred, at each of which, as a rule, 
one principal historical address has been given by some person 
specially qualified to speak thereon, supplemented by brief ad- 
dresses by members and invited guests. These addresses have, in 
the main, related to the history and biography of Providence and 
the State of Rhode Island. 

In the winter of 1905-6, the Association organized a series of 
addresses which were given the grammer school pupils of the pub- 
lic schools of Providence. These addresses proved to be well 
adapted to the minds and tastes of the children, and, as a whole, 
were complimented by the Superintendent of Schools. The plan 
was also carried out during the winter of 1906-7, with good results, 
in awakening in the minds of teachers and pupils a deeper interest 
in local history. It is intended to continue this educational work 
in the form of familiar talks, with stereopticon illustrations, and 
to extend the work, as far as possible, through the schools of the 
State. 

The Association inaugurated a plan of setting boulder monu- 
ments to mark historic sites, following the example set by President 
Bicknell in installing a quartz boulder, with a bronze tablet, at the 
graves of family slaves at Prince's Hill, Barrington. The Associa- 
tion has dedicated a granite boulder at Hampden Meadows, Bar- 
rington, over the supposed grave of Rev. John Myles, founder of 
the First Baptist Church in Massachusetts, and has also dedicated 
an iron-stone monument with a bronze tablet near the site of the 
meeting house erected by John Myles and his associates for the 
use of the first Church. 

The Association took an active part in the location and dedica- 
tion of a quartz boulder on the battlefield of the famous Michael 
Pierce Fight, and President Bicknell has edited the neat volume of 
addresses and poems relating to that memorable event. 



42 

During the year 1906, the Association enjoyed several success- 
ful historical outings. These proved so very interesting and profit- 
able that during the spring, summer and autumn of 1907 twenty- 
three outings were participated in by a large number of the mem- 
bers with invited guests. By reason of the interest awakened by 
this study of history, first-hand, more than one hundred members 
were added to the Association. The season of 1908 has fourteen 
of these outings announced, and at the moment of this writing have 
been more largely attended than last year, indicating a great popular 
desire to visit historic spots and learn what the localities and local 
testimony have to say as to the truth or falsity of oral or written 
statements. The outings are clearly established as a permanent and 
important feature of the work of this Association. 

The most important single act of the Association has been the 
inauguration of the public celebration of Rhode Island's Indepen- 
dence Day, May 4th, 1776. The first celebration was held at the 
Mathewson Street M. E. Church, Providence, May 4th, 1906. The 
opening address was made by President Bicknell, followed by a 
scholarly address by ex-Governor Charles Warren Lippitt of Provi- 
dence. Gov. Lippitt's address was the product of long and careful 
research, and its conclusions established beyond dispute or question 
the claim to priority on the part of the Colony of Rhode Island in 
the formal act of separation of all organic political relations to the 
authority and government of Great Britain. Addresses were also 
made by Governor George H. Utter, ex-Governor William Sprague, 
and others, in the presence of a large audience. The public cele- 
bration of Independence Day in 1907 was held at the Old State 
House on Benefit street, Providence, where addresses were made by 
President Bicknell, Governor J. H. Higgins, Hon. Theodore 
Francis Greene, and Hon. Roswell B. Burchard, Speaker of the 
Rhode Island House of Representatives. An original poem was 
read by Mrs. Harriette M. Miller of Providence. The exercises 



43 

took place in the old Representatives' Hall, where the Declaration 
was first read by its author, Hon. Jonathan Arnold and where it 
was enacted, with only six negative votes, on Saturday, May 4th, 
1776. 

The celebration of May 4th, 1908, was also held at the Old 
State House. By order of Governor Higgins, salutes were fired 
at Providence, Newport, Bristol, and at all other points where 
State batteries were located. The flags of the State, of the cities, 
and towns, and from private residences were unfurled in honor of 
the day. 



The Historic Tree 

(A Poem By Mrs. Harriette M. Miller.) 

Up above the silvery cloud-land, 

Far above the starry dome, 
Stand God's angels, guiding mortals, 

Watching from their radiant home, 

They have ministered in sorrow, 
Often soothed the tearful eyes; 

Whispering gently — "Comfort borrow, 
God is blessing in disguise." 

Pilgrims, Puritans and soldiers, 

Each has known their constant care; 

All have heard sweet words of comfort, 
Floating down from realms of air. 

Year by year they watched the struggles 
Of our sires, 'til freedom came; 

Cheered the heart of dauntless Roger, 
With "Soul Liberty" — his aim. 

Then came years of Indian warfare 

And the galling British yoke, 
Till Rhode Island's sires, in council, 

First the words of Freedom spoke, 

Soon fair homes adorned the valley, 
On the hillside towered the spire, 

And the college halls were rising — 
Brains must work, and souls aspire. 

For two centuries, Rhode Island, 
Small in size — but large in worth, 

Built her mills, — and schools, — and churches, 
And her great heart blessed the earth. 

How her soldiers rushed to battle! 

How they fought to right the wrong! 
How they died — has all been told you, 

Both in history — and song. 

Years rolled on — sweet Peace was folding 
North and South in her embrace; 

All Rhode Island's wheels of labor 
Moved again with tireless pace. 



45 

How those Guardian Angels watched her! 

Loving this historic spot. 
Fearing in her peace and plenty, 

All her past would be forgot. 

Anxiously they gazed beneath them, 
Murmured one — in accents low 

Fair Rhode Island needs more landmarks, 
Which shall point to long ago. 

Else the hum of trade and traffic 
And the wealth of mine and mart, 

Will destroy all patriot feeling, 

Blot old memories from the heart. 

"I know well a chosen spirit, 

Who has gained the people's love; 

All unseen, I'll seek his presence 
With our message from above." 

So away on downy pinions, 

Through the azure depths he flew; 

Secretly, he thrilled that leader 
With an inspiration true ; 

Then he called his friends around him, 
Told them all the wondrous tale, 

How the Lord had laid upon him 
Work, — in which he must not fail. 

"You, my comrades, must be helpers, 
Loyal hearts must beat as one ; 

We must save our state traditions 
Ere this century has run." 

Let us plant a tree, — historic, 

Here, upon its native soil, 
Sink its roots with sacred memories, 

Fence it round, — to guard from spoil. 

It shall rise in strength, toward heaven, 

Every limb historic truth. 
Let no "guess-work" on its branches, 

Lead astray our loyal youth. 

Years twenty-five, have rolled their courses, 
Since the planting of that tree; 

Of those who dug, — and set, — and fenced it 
Today, — we number only three.* 



46 



But they remain, an inspiration 

To all who love historic lore ; 
They root out weeds — lop fiction branches 

And write us histories, — "galore." 

The tree is now both large and strong ; 

Its foliage covers wondrous space; 
We sit beneath, and watch the limbs, 

Pointing to some historic place. 

We've solved the problems of our city, 
North Main street with its churches old, 

Where Williams lived, and where he died, 
And seen the pen, where slaves were sold. 

We've seen the house where heroes met 
The night the Gaspee soared in flame, 

O ! glorious sight ! we have not yet 

Dreamed of one-half our spots of fame. 

And still we search. If our tree point 
Towards Barrington, or Portsmouth plain, 

Or Newmans grave, — or that of Myles 
With trusty guides, we're off again. 

We've stood within the ancient room, 
Where Prescott hid, — but Barton found; 

We gathered there from fields of bloom 
The daisies on historic ground. 

We've climbed the rock where Philip died; 

We've picknicked on Quinsnicket Hill; 
We've rested in the Quaker church; 

We've stood within Old Frenchtown's mill. 

And then the fellowship we've had, 

The converse sweet, — in God's free air, 

While guardian angels as of old 
Have guided safely everywhere. 



'Mowry, Everett and Arnold. 



AN ADDRESS 

BY 

WILLIAM A. MOWRY, PH. D. 

ON 

THOMAS WILSON DORR 



Ladies and Gentlemen — I am happy to be here with you to-day, 
at this 25th anniversary of your Society — It is a double pleasure, be- 
cause I helped found it and was one of its charter members. 

At the very outset I may subject myself to the ancient charge 
of "bringing coals to Newcastle," by coming over the border from 
the Bay State to these Plantations to present to you a chapter in your 
own history, especially a chapter so well known, so familiar to all 
Rhode Islanders, as the story of Governor Dorr and the war of 1842. 

If this charge should be laid against me, I should have two 
things to say in defense — 1. I am almost a Rhode Islander myself. 
My native place was in a border town, and I was born in the last 
house in Massachusetts, within a half mile of the Rhode Island line, 
and fully half of my life has been spent in your state. 2. Further- 
more, I shall take the liberty of saying that the good people of your 
state need enlightenment upon the life and character of Thomas W. 
Dorr. The conflict of 1842 was so severe, and its outcome so decided 
that strong prejudices were left in the minds of the inhabitants of 
the state, which have hardly disappeared, even after the lapse of 
more than three score years. 

Moreover, my theme is not the "Dorr War," but it is rather the 
life and character of Governor Dorr — his position in society, his abil- 
ity, his learning, his patriotism, his philanthropy, and — his mistakes 
— his shortcomings. 



48 

How difficult it is to get at the real facts of history, and even 
when the facts are agreed upon, how much more difficult it is to give 
the proper interpretation to those facts, — to connect them properly, 
and to show clearly and correctly cause and effect. At the time of 
the troubles of 1842 I was just upon the border of the two states, 
already mentioned, with friends living over the line in your state, so 
that we had daily and almost hourly communication with Rhode Is- 
landers of both parties. During all the years since those troublous 
times I have given no little study to the questions at issue, and have 
had intimate acquaintance with many of the leading actors on both 
sides. 

THE CHARTER OF 1663. 

The Charter of 1663 ; the defeated Landholders' Constitution, 
the People's Constitution of 1842, and the adopted constitution of 
1843, with its amendments of 1854, '64, '86, '88, '89, '92, and '93; 
the "Dorriad" of Governor Anthony ; the trial of Governor Dorr for 
treason; his conviction and imprisonment; Burke's Report, Dorr's 
pardon, his remaining life, and his death in December, 1854; alto- 
gether form one of the most interesting, most difficult, but most prof- 
itable chapters of governmental history to be found in all the annals, 
ancient or modern.* 

SUFFRAGE RESTRICTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 

The sole cause of this protracted struggle was the restricted 
suffrage, and the unjust representation of towns and cities in the 
General Assembly. In 1723-4 the General Assembly passed an act 



*The singular thing about this is that for almost sixty years no unbiased 
history of the "Dorr War" was written. Every life of Dorr and every history 
of the troubles of 1842 was of a partisan nature. The only judicial history of 
the suffrage movement is in a subscription book written by my son and pub- 
lished a few years ago by Preston & Rounds. It's title page is as follows: 
"The Dorr War, or the Constitutional Struggle in Rhode Island, by Arthur 
May Mowry, with an introduction by Albert Bushnell Hart, Professor of 
American History, Harvard University, Providence, R. I. Preston & Rounds 
Co., 1901." 



'49 

granting admission as freeman to a "freeholder of lands, tenements 
or hereditaments in such town where he shall be admitted, free, of 
the value of one hundred pounds, or to the value of forty shillings 
per annum or the eldest son of such freeholder; any act, custom 
or usage to the contrary hereof notwithstanding." 

POPULAR ERRORS CONCERNING THIS SUFFRAGE RESTRICTION. 

It will be observed that this was an act of the General Assem- 
bly, but it must be noted also that the notion has been widely held 
that this provision was in the charter — that that instrument pre- 
scribed this limitation of suffrage. Indeed this opinion is still held 
by many all over the land. It is found in manv of our school histo- 
ries and other books, where one might suppose the author would 
know what the facts were. Look a moment at some of our school 
histories : — Barnes' School History says, "The Charter granted by 
Charles II. was still in force. It limited the right of suffrage to those 
holding a certain amount of property." In an old edition of Barnes' 
Brief History, it says that Dorr "made an attack on the state arsenal 
but was driven off by United States troops." 

Even so learned a scholar as McMaster, says : "The Old Colo- 
nial Charter was still in force and under it no man could vote unless 
he owned real estate worth $134, or renting for $7 a year, or was 
the eldest son of such a freeman." One of the most popular school 
histories is Montgomery's. In his "Student's History" we read as 
follows : "Under its ancient charter the right of suffrage in that state 
was limited to landholders (holding an estate valued at not less than 
$134) and to their eldest sons." Waddy Thompson says : "The gov- 
ernment was still administered under the charter granted by Charles 
II., in 1663," and "only men who owned property and their eldest 
sons were allowed to vote." He also adds: "The Federal Govern- 
ment interposed and the Dorr people finally gave way." Morris 
states it in this way: "Under the old charter granted in 1662 ( ?) by 



50 

Charles II. only the oldest sons of voters had full right of suffrage, 
all other voters needing to possess a certain amount of property." 
Mace, in his history says: "Rhode Island was still governed partly 
by her old charter, which prevented fully two-thirds of her men of 
proper age from voting, because they were not land holders." He 
adds : "On the approach of United States troops Dorr's men de- 
serted him." Jones, in his school history puts the case in this way : 
"Arrests followed and Dorr fled from the little state. He soon re- 
turned with an armed force and the Federal Government was obliged 
to interfere. It is said that when Dorr found himself confronted 
by the soldiers, he made an address to his followers, exhorting them 
to stand firm. 'If obliged to retreat,' he added, 'do so with your face 
to the foe ; and, inasmuch as I am somewhat lame, I'll begin retreat- 
ing now.' " 

What a travesty on history ! And all these books are in use here 
and there in the schools of this country. Gibson says : "Under the 
old charter not all male citizens could vote." Further on he adds : 
"the state was on the verge of a civil war, and the General Govern- 
ment was called upon to keep the peace." 

Even Elson, generally a careful scholar, who has written an ex- 
cellent work on the history of our country, fails to be exact and states 
the case thus : "Rhode Island, after the Declaration of Independence, 
retained its charter government and many of the people were dissatis- 
fied at the limited suffrage. ****** a new government 
was set up but the insurgents were dispersed by national aid and 
Dorr was taken captive." 

ERRORS SUMMARIZED. 

So, I might go on quoting from nearly one hundred school his- 
tories which are on the shelves of my own library, and not find half 
a dozen free from error. We shall see, as we study the subject how 
far from the truth these statements are. Suffice it to say here and 
now that 



51 

i. The restricted suffrage was the result of laws made by the 
General Assembly and that body had full authority to broaden that 
suffrage at any time and to any extent, that they might choose to do 
so. It was not a provision of the charter. 

2. No United States force was used in the contest. 

3. Dorr was not captured, but delivered himself up for trial 
after his voluntary return to the state. 

4. It is needless to say that the story of Dorr's lameness and his 
retreat was manufactured out of whole cloth. 

It is said that at one time that sentence alone prevented the in- 
troduction of Barnes' Brief History into the schools of Providence. 
In later editions the story was omitted. It is time that we looked 
at the charter itself, to see what that document does or does not 
say upon the question of voting for government officers and for the 
making of laws. 

THE CHARTER GIVES THE POWER OVER SUFFRAGE TO 
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 

The charter in careful detail establishes and defines the "Gen- 
eral Assembly." It then says : 'They shall have, and have hereby 
given to them, full power and authority, from time to time and at all 
times hereafter, to appoint, alter and change such days, times and 
places of meeting and General Assembly, as they shall think fit, 
and to choose, nominate and appoint, such and so many other per- 
sons as they shall think fit and shall be willing to accept the same, 
to be free of the said company, and body politic, and them into the 
same to admit; and to elect and constitute such offices and officers 
* * * * as they shall think fit, * * * * and from time to 
time to make, ordain, constitute or repeal, such laws, statutes, 
orders and ordinances * * * as to them shall seem meet for the 
good and welfare of the said company; * * * * and also to 
regulate and order the way and manner of all elections to offices 



52 

and places of trust, and to prescribe, limit and distinguish the num- 
bers and bounds of all places, towns or cities, within the limits and 
bounds hereinafter mentioned, and not herein particularly named, 
who have, or shall have, the power of electing and sending of 
freemen to the said General Assembly, and also to order, direct and 
authorize the imposing of lawful and reasonable fines, mulcts, im- 
prisonments, and execute other punishment, pecuniary and corporal 
upon offenders ; * * * and to direct, rule, order and dispose of, 
all other matters and things." 

By the above extracts it will be clearly seen that all matters of 
law making, voting, offices and officers, punishments, etc., are 
placed in the hands of the General Assembly with full powers. 

Furthermore, nowhere in the Charter is there any enact- 
ment specifying who shall be freemen, or who shall become voters. 
All such matters, as shown by the above extracts are clearly placed 
in the hands of the General Assembly, and they, the said General 
Assembly could change, alter and amend any rule or regulation 
relating thereto. 

ASSEMBLY UNWILLING TO PART WITH POWER. 

The point to be observed, however, is that the members of said 
General Assembly were never willing to part with any power resid- 
ing with them. There has always been something singular in Rhode 
Island politics. The initial cause of this may have been the intense 
individualism which was engendered by the peculiar circumstances 
under which the first settlements were made at Providence, Newport 
and Warwick. 

Most of the early English settlements along this coast, like 
Jamestown, Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Hartford, New Haven 
and Philadelphia, were made by a homogeneous set of men. Rhode 
Island settlers, on the other hand, were a motly crew, no two men 
thinking alike. Roger Williams, at the very outset, established and 



53 

maintained liberty of conscience, "Freedom in Religious Concern- 
ments," as it was called, and in consequence thereof the discontented 
from the Bay Colony and elsewhere moved over into the Providence 
Plantations. One is reminded of David in the Cave of Adullam, 
when "every one that was in distress, and every one that was in 
debt, and every one that was discontented gathered themselves unto 
him." 

But David persevered, so did Roger Williams. David became 
king and established the city of Jerusalem as the capital of his 
kingdom. So Rhode Island prospered and is today the richest 
state in our glorious Union, the most densely populated, a real 
hive of industry, activity and intelligence. It has made gigantic 
progress in education, in industrial pursuits, in science, the arts, 
wealth and in government. 

VIEW OF COLONEL BURRILL. 

In the year 1797 Col. George R. Burrill, brother of United 
States Senator James Burrill, in a Fourth of July oration used the 
following language: Representation always supposes proportion." 
"Equal representation is involved in the very idea of free govern- 
ment." But he saw already how difficult it would be to effect any 
change in the state government. He said : "To petition this legis- 
lature for equal representation is to require the majority to sur- 
render their power, a requisition which it is not in human nature to 
grant." 

Doubtless, this was the prevailing view of the people of the 
state, and is the principal explanation of the general apathy from 
that time onward to the controversy of 1842. 

SPASMODIC EFFORTS. 

It is true that some spasmodic efforts were made from time 
to time to secure a broader representation and suffrage, but in 
them all the people were lukewarm and no results followed. Then 



54 

efforts were made in 1811, 1817, 1821, 1822, 1823; and in 1824 a 
constitution was voted down. But it should be said that this pro- 
posed constitution was made by the land holders and did not extend 
the suffrage, or remedy the unjust apportionment of the represen- 
tation in the General Assembly. 

SUFFRAGE SENTIMENT FROM 1825 TO 184O. 

From the year 1825 to 1840 there was a continuous agitation 
of the question. It the latter year an "Address to the Citizens of 
Rhode Island who are denied the right of suffrage" was circulated 
proposing and laying plans for a convention to frame a constitu- 
tion. All male citizens over twenty-one years of age should be 
allowed to vote for delegates and if "the whole number of votes 
cast exceeds the whole vote of the previous general election for 
representatives to Congress, then the convention will unquestion- 
ably represent the majority of the people and will therefore as 
unquestionably have the soveriegn right to frame a constitution for 
the State." 

In 1840 "The Rhode Island Suffrage Association" was organ- 
ized for the purpose of inaugurating a new agitation for a consti- 
tution with freer suffrage. Within a few months nearly every 
town in the State had an organization of this kind. 

Thus far Mr. Dorr has not appeared prominent in this move- 
ment. Before continuing the account of these efforts of the people 
for a new constitution let us turn our attention to that young 
lawyer who is soon to be identified with the people's uprising, and 
whose brilliant and promising life is to be blighted and even sacri- 
ficed by the movement. 

THOMAS WILSON DORR. 

Thomas Wilson Dorr was born in Providence on the fifth of 
November, 1805. He was descended from one of the first families 



55 

of his native city and state. His father, Sullivan Dorr, was one of 
the foremost citizens, a successful manufacturer, president of a 
large fire insurance company, and possessed of great wealth, so that 
his family was surrounded with luxury. His son Thomas was given 
every advantage in his youth. He was prepared for college at the 
renowned Phillips Exeter Academy, from which institution he en- 
tered Harvard University at the early age of fourteen years, and 
graduated with honor before he was eighteen yCars of age. He 
studied law in New York in the office of the distinguished Chancel- 
lor Kent, and began its practice in his native city before he was 
twenty-one years of age. His career at the bar was brilliant from 
the start. 

DORR IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 

He was elected by the citizens of Providence to the General 
Assembly of the state when he was only twenty-eight years old, and 
re-elected four years in succession. 

Here he was active in many ways. In his second year in the 
Assembly he brought in four resolutions : 

i. Against the removal of the public funds from the Bank of 
the United States. 

2. Against executive control of the United States Treasury. 

3. Against the spoils system in national politics. 

4. In favor of re-chartering the Bank of the United States. 

dorr's career. 

Here was a young man, less than thirty years of age presenting 
to the legislature of his state four important resolutions, all of a 
national character, and they were all adopted by practically a two- 
thirds vote. Two years later he successfully championed the repeal 
of a law which gave the state banks a power over debtors not per- 
mitted to other creditors, a power which practically made the bank 
a preferred creditor. During the same year he opposed the attempt 



56 

to enact laws against the abolitionists, and, again, he took a strong 
and decided position in favor of the extension of suffrage. This of- 
fended the leaders of the Whig party, with which up to this time he 
had affiliated, so that when the Whigs took their stand against a con- 
stitutional convention Mr. Dorr left that party and allied himself 
with the Democrats. In 1837 he ran for Congress, but was defeated. 
Having identified himself with the Democratic party, he ran for Rep- 
resentative in 1839 and came near being elected. He ran consider- 
ably ahead of his ticket. But the politicians of Rhode Island had 
no use for a man of such pronounced independence. He remained 
quiet, as to political matters until he accepted the People's nomina- 
tion for Governor under their new constitution. 

DORR ON THE SCHOOL BOARD. 

Alhough not a member of the legislature he did not remain 
indifferent to public interests. This was the time when educational 
affairs stirred the people of Rhode Island to an unusual degree. A 
few years later Henry Barnard, who was Commissioner of Edu- 
cation from 1843 to 1849, revolutionized the state as to its school 
system. The city of Providence had already been revolutionized, 
and it was Thomas W. Dorr, who perhaps more than any other man 
did it. He was for a series of years a very active and energetic 
member of the school board of the city and in 1841 he was elected, 
almost unanimously, President of the Board. 

This was the time when an entirely new system was put in op- 
eration. A high school building, six new grammar school houses 
and, I think, ten primary school buildings were erected. Thomas 
W. Dorr was the active man in all this. It was his energy and 
persistency that put the entire system on a new and vastly improved 

basis. The present excellent condition of the schools of this enter- 
prising city owes much to the single fact that seventy years ago they 

had the valued assistance of Thomas W. Dorr. 



57 

DORR, A MODEL CITIZEN. 

Mr. Dorr was active, during the years we are now considering, 
in various directions. He was a leading member and Treasurer of 
the Rhode Island Historical Sociey. He was appointed by the state 
Commissioner of the Scituate Bank, and he was administrator and 
trustee of the property of several private individuals. In fact he 
was one of the model citizens of Rhode Island. 

TESTIMONY OF THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL. 

Here is the testimony of his bitterest enemy, the Providence 
Journal : He was a man "endowed with intellectual powers which 
had they been properly directed, would have always secured him a 
commanding influence. Those powers, too, were disciplined by an 
education more accomplished perhaps than any other man of his 
age in Rhode Island had been privileged to obtain. As a man of 
science and letters, he might have obtained honorable distinction 
had he chosen to dedicate his time to science or to letters. As a 
statesman he might have rendered his native state substantial ser- 
vice. He might have been a true-hearted private gentleman, hon- 
ored by the respect and confidence of the community in which he 

resided." 

burke's report. 

In Burke's Report we read: "Mr. Dorr is an educated gentle- 
man of the most respectable family and connections. He, per- 
sonally, has stood high in the confidence and esteem of his fellow- 
citizens. His whole course of life, his sentiments, and his actions 
have been such as to free him from the imputation of having in 
anything been governed by other motives than a desire and a zeal 
for the best interests of his fellow-citizens and of the State." 

These, then, are the pictures of Mr. Dorr before he became the 
leading champion of an enlarged suffrage in the State of Rhode 
Island. 



58 



SUMMARY OF HIS LIFE AND CHARACTER. 

Later, in this paper, I purpose to show what an enlarged 
vision he had of national and international affairs, even to the end 
of his life. For, as we shall see, this vigorous specimen of humanity, 
this healthy youth who achieved his parchment from Harvard Col- 
lege at eighteen, this stalwart young man who made an honorable 
record of statesmanship before he was thirty years of age, this 
strong, sturdy, philanthropist, whose downfall came to him at the 
age of thirty-seven years, died before he had completed the life of 
half a century. 

RHODE ISLAND IN 184O-42. 

Let us now consider the affairs of 1840 to 1842, the un- 
successful and after all successful effort of the people to secure a 
wider suffrage. 

In 1841 Suffrage Associations had been founded in the prin- 
cipal towns of the state. "The Campaign of Education" had fairly 
begun. The people were now awake to the issue. But, on what 
principles and after what fashion should this campaign be carried 
on. 

It seemed clear to many that a constitution giving a more just 
representation in the General Assembly and a more extended suf- 
frage to the people should be made and adopted. Of course if the 
ruling class, namely, the landowners would favor the adoption of 
such a constitution then it could be brought about in a legal way 
and in accordance with existing legal forms. But the landowners 
were not yet sufficiently "educated" to consent to this. How then 
could it be accomplished. 

ONLY COURSE OPEN TO THE SUFFRAGISTS. 

Under the prevailing conditions there seemed to the friends of 
"Suffrage" but one way, and that was for the people, as a whole, 



59 

to act; to rise in the majesty of their sovereign rights as men and 
frame a new constitution, adopt it by vote outside of existing laws. 
There seemed no alternative but to give up the contest and remain 
as heretofore, suffering the evident injustice of the landholders 
oligarchy. 

PRINCIPLES OF THE SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION. 

The Rhode Island Suffrage Association had laid down and pub- 
lished nine principles and two resolutions as follows : 
i. "All men are created free and equal." 

2. Possession of property should not create political advantages 
for its holder. 

3. Every body politic should have for its foundation a bill of 
rights and a written constitution. 

4. Rhode Island has neither. 

5. The Charter lost its authority when the United States be- 
came independent. 

6. Every state is entitled to a Republican form of government. 

7. Any state is anti-republican which keeps a majority of the 
people from participating in its affairs. 

8. By every right, human and divine, the majority should 
govern. 

9. The time has gone by for submission to most unjust out- 
rages upon social and political rights. 

These propositions led to the following resolutions : 

1. The power of the state should be vested in the hands of the 
people, and the people have a right from time to time to assemble 
together, either by themselves or their representatives, for the estab- 
lishment of a republican form of government. 

2. Whenever a majority of the citizens of this state, who are 
recognized as citizens of the United States, shall, by their delegates 
in convention assembled, draught a constitution, and the same shall 



60 

be accepted by their constituents, it will be, to all intents and pur- 
poses, the law of the State." 

Whatever may be said of these "principles" and "resolutions," 
to the friends of suffrage in Rhode Island no other course seemed 
to promise any success to their desires and they were adopted and 
acted upon by the suffrage party, generally called "Dorrites." 

Had that party succeeded possibly they might have been re- 
garded more favorably today than is now the case. "Nothing 
succeeds like success." 

freemen's or landholders' constitution. 

Meantime the General Assembly found it necessary to take 
some sort of action. The people were too much aroused to utterly 
ignore the movement. It therefore proposed to call a convention 
and frame a constitution to be submitted to the people for adoption 
or rejection. This was done. A constitution called "The Free- 
men's Constitution" was framed and submitted to the voters, in- 
cluding adult males, not legal voters. 

THE PEOPLE'S CONSTITUTION. 

At the same time the suffragists had framed "The People's 
Constitution" and that was submitted to the "people" for their votes. 

"The Freemen's Constitution" was voted down and "The Peo- 
ple's Constitution" was declared adopted. 

Then came the dual government. Under the old Charter Sam- 
uel Ward King was elected Governor. 

Under the People's Constitution Thomas Wilson Dorr was 
elected Governor. 

Two distinct legislatures were elected. 

MISTAKE OF THE CHARTER MEN. 

As a matter of fact the people of the State appeared to be 
nearly equally divided between the two parties. Neither side had 
full courage, both were fearful of results. During that month of 



61 

April, 1842, it would seem that the Charter party by a bold stroke 
might have brought the State over to the side of law and order, but 
they feared to enforce coercion measures. It is true the Charter 
legislature had passed a stringent law imposing fine and imprison- 
ment upon everyone accepting office under the so-called People's 
Constitution, "and that any person assuming a state office [under 
that constitution] would be guilty of treason and subject to impris- 
onment for life." 

Had Governor King during the month of April made arrests of 
those officers elected under the People's Constitution the so-called 
rebellion would bave been easily crushed. The Charter government 
was in full force, with all its departments complete, while the Dorr 
government had not been organized. Under the People's Constitu- 
tion the election took place April 18, and the regular Charter elec- 
tion on the 20th. 

The third of May was fixed for the inauguration of Governor 
Dorr and the meeting of the legislature under the People's Con- 
stitution, and May 4th for the inauguration of the newly elected 
officers of the Charter government. 

It would appear almost certain that a bold move for the arrest 
of those officers elected under the Dorr government, during the 
month of April would have utterly crushed the incipient government, 
but not an arrest was made. Everything remained quiet through 
the state, preparatory to the inauguration of two governors and two 
legislatures, on the 3rd and 4th of May. 

THE DUAL GOVERNMENTS. 

On Tuesday, the third of May, the legislature elected under 
the People's Constitution found the State House closed and met in 
a foundry building, near Eddy and Dorrance streets. 

The next day Wednesday, May 4th, the "Law and Order," or 
the "Charter" government met as per custom at Newport. 



62 

In the new foundry building Governor Dorr took the oath of 
office as Governor and the members of the General Assembly were 
sworn in. They were in session two days. Some minor business 
was transacted. They adjourned to meet on the first Monday in 
July. The members went home. No Judicial Branch of the govern- 
ment had been formed. 

This General Assembly never held another meeting. Here was 
a grave mistake of this new government. 

MISTAKE OF THE DORR PARTY. 

That was the moment for getting possession of the govern- 
ment. If they expected success they should have remained in 
session and secured possession of the state house, the archives and 
the offices of the state government. Here was the chance and the 
necessity for strategy, for diplomacy, for action, forcible action if 
necessary. The Dorr government should have seized the government 
archives and possessed themselves of all the state machinery. What 
an opportunity, while the Charter government with all its officers 
were absent from Providence in the city of Newport, thirty miles 
away. Had Governor Dorr and his legislature obtained possession 
of the state house and put in opperation all the machinery of the 
state government, it would have been difficult for the "Algerine" 
party to have ousted them. 

Evidently Dorr was too honest, too straightforward, too little 
a politician to manipulate a bold coup d'etat. 

Both parties had appealed to the president, John Tyler, and he 
had not interfered. He did nothing, except to express his deter- 
mination to sustain the de facto government, that is, the Charter 
government, if the necessity should arise. 

DORR VISITS WASHINGTON. 

Governor Dorr went to Washington to interview President 
Tyler and feel the pulse of Congress. He found a few politicians 



63 

among the members of Congress who listened to him and expressed 
more or less sympathy, but nothing favorable or reliable happened. 
On the other hand he found the President unalterable in his deter- 
mination to favor the old government, and to sustain Governor 
King, if the interference of the national government should be 
needed. 

Governor Dorr had done his best to secure an extended suf- 
frage for Rhode Island. He had failed. He could do no more. 
The national administration had taken sides with the old govern- 
ment. He could not contend against the whole power of the United 
States. His followers had shown the white feather. They were 
not only lukewarm, but they had shown themselves cowardly. 

The proposition had been made in the Foundry Legislature to 
instruct the sheriff to take possession of the state house, but three- 
fourths of the members of the House were opposed to the measure 
and only favored a request for the opening of the building. It was 
Dorr's intention to take possession, but he was overpowered by the 
House of Representatives. This was Dorr's language in relation 
to the subject: "The illjudged omission was of fatal consequence. 
The day was then lost, and ultimately the cause itself, through the 
vacillating and retreating disposition of its friends. They held, on 
that day, everything in their own hands. All might then have been 
accomplished without loss or injury to anyone." Here was the fatal 
mistake, and it was not the mistake of Dorr, but of his timid sup- 
porters. Revolutions do not usually succeed by such timid measures. 
The hasty adjournment of the People's legislature plainly showed 
the want of wisdom and good judgment which characterized Dorr's 
followers and advisers. 

GOVERNOR DORR IN NEW YORK. 

Governor Dorr was on his way back from Washington. He 
arrived in New York on the 12th of May. He had no plans for 



64 

future action. Indeed, nothing appeared to be possible to do. The 
cause was lost. Dorr himself did not hesitate to state to his friends 
whom he met in that city that he could do no more, that he must 
trust to the promise of the President that he would procure an act 
of amnesty for all past offenders. 

Had Governor Dorr then not stopped in New York, had he 
come directly home to Rhode Island, the controversy would have 
soon ended. Governor King would, doubtless, have issued an 
act of amnesty to all who should cease from their opposition to 
the existing government. This would unquestionably have been 
followed by a convention, and a new constitution by which Dorr and 
his friends would have gained substantially whajt they had been 
contending for. How unfortunate that affairs took a different turn. 
But who was now at fault. What so effectually prevented this 
peaceful and successful solution of the problem. Here we are re- 
quired to relate a singular tale, a sad story. We must arraign the 
rotten politics of the city of New York, as the responsible cause 
of the unfortunate chapter which now followed in the history of 
Rhode Island. 

TAMMANY HALL RESPONSIBLE. 

We are compelled to lay the charge at the door of Tammany 
Hall, New York. 

To Governor Dorr it was made clear in Washington that he 
could receive no aid from the national government, but that the 
President, while anxious to avoid civil strife, would use his influ- 
ence in favor of the de facto government, and that if the Uniteid 
States troops should be used in the Rhode Island troubles, they 
would assist that government not the revolutionists. While there 
Governor Dorr held interviews with President Tyler, Daniel Web- 
ster, Secretary of State, and other leaders of both political parties, 
and everywhere he failed to obtain sympathy for himself or his 



05 



party sufficient to encourage him to proceed further in the attempt 
to establish his government. He saw clearly that he could not cope 
with his enemies in Rhode Island if they were to be aided by the 
military forces of the United States. 

Hence it was that on his arrival in New York he had deter- 
mined, though reluctantly, to leave the existing government in 
peace and to trust to the good offices of President Tyler to effect 
a compromise and to obtain amnesty for himself and his followers. 

How happy it would have been for Rhode Island and for 
Thomas W. Dorr, if he could have come straight through the 
City of New York to Rhode Island. 

The people of Rhode Island, as a whole, even most of the 
leaders of the suffrage movement were in just the frame of mind to 
accept amnesty, for during all this time the strong sentiment of the 
state was against any appeal to arms. 

DORR, THE GUEST OF TAMMANY. 

But on Dorr's arrival in New York he was cordially received by 
the leaders of Tammany Hall. Following the lead of Hon. E. F. 
Purdy, ex-president of the New York Board of Aldermen, one of 
the leaders of Tammany, he was invited to accept their escort and 
with his friend Dutee J. Pearce attended that Friday evening the 
Bowery Theatre. This was duly chronicled in the daily papers and 
was the beginning of the attentions showered upon this distinguished 
Rhode Island People's Governor. Saturday forenoon came a re- 
ception to the Governor and to Welcome B. Sayles, the Speaker of 
the People's General Assembly. Several hours were spent in this 
distinguished ovation, and when the time came for the Governor to 
depart for Providence he found a great crowd collected on the Park. 
At once a procession was formed as an escort, under the leadership 
of William H. Cornell. It was reported that fully five hundred peo- 
ple in citizen's dress, together with a band of music and a company 

5 



66 

of volunteer firemen formed this escort. Governor Dorr, Speaker 
Sayles, Ex-Alderman Purdy and Editor Slamm occupied the 
barouche. 

Before leaving the city Governor Dorr received the following 
communication : 

New York, May 13, 1842. 
"To Thomas W. Dorr, Governor of the State of Rhode Island: 

Sir: — Several military companies of this city and vicinity hav- 
ing tendered their services to form a military escort to accompany 
you to Providence, we have the honor to apprize your excellency of 
the fact. This distinction which they so much admire, we hope will 
meet with your cheerful acceptance. 

Wi(th sentiments of the highest respect, 
We are very respectfully yours, 

Alexander Wing, Jr., 

Col 13th Reg't N. Y. A. 
Abraham J. Crasto, 

Lt. Col. 236th Reg't N. Y. S. I. 

To this communication Governor Dorr made the following 
reply : 

New York, May 14th, 1842. 
"To Cols. Wing and Crasto : 

Gentlemen : — I return to you my most sincere thanks for the 
offer contained in your letter of yesterday of an escort of several 
military companies to accompany me to the City of Providence. 
It is impossible to mistake the spirit in which this offer is made. It 
is an indication of the fraternal interest with which you regard th* 
present struggle for their just right of the people of Rhode Island, 
whom I have the honor to represent. 

While I should not feel justified at the present moment in 
withdrawing you from your homes and business on the expedition 



67 

contemplated', allow me to say that the time may not be distant 
when I may be obliged to call upon you for your services in that 
cause to which you will so promptly render the most efficient aid — 
The cause of American citizens contending for their sovereign right 
to make and maintain a republican constitution and opposed by the 
hired soldiers of the General Government. 

In this unequal contest I invoke your aid and that of your 
associates in arms. We appeal from the Government to the people, 
and rely upon them in the last resort to defend our rights from every 
arbitrary aggression. 

Be pleased to make my cordial acknowledgements to officers and 
privates, who have kindly united with you in the honor which has 
been proffered me, and accept the regards of your friend and fel- 
low-citizen. 

Thomas W. Dorr." 

This letter of Dorr plainly tells us that he had changed his 
mind, that now he had determined to continue the contest, and, not 
only so, but that he had decided to employ military force. 

He speaks of being opposed by "the hired soldiers of the Gen- 
eral Government." That means the regular Army of the United 
States. He "appeals from the Government to the people." That 
implies that he intends to employ military force as against not only 
the State of Rhode Island, but even against the power of the 
United States. 

DORR DETERMINES TO USE FORCE. 

What a change has come over the man ! Before he reached 
New York from Washington he saw that he could do no more. He 
supposed that he must allow the existing government to go on, and 
trust to President Tyler's influence to secure general amnesty. 

Now, however, he at once writes a letter to the governor of 
Connecticut and another to the governor of Maine, "requesting 



68 

them to call the attention of their legislatures to the situation in 
Rhode Island." He complains that Rhode Island is "threatened 
with a military intervention unless they abandon their constitution 
and surrender all their rights." 

It is now the middle of May. The People's government had 
practically ceased to exist. The legislature had organized held a 
session of a day and adjourned. The members had gone to their 
homes. The executive officers had not taken possession of any of 
the bureaus, papers or documents of the state, and had not at- 
tempted to perform any executive functions. 

DORR RETURNS TO PROVIDENCE. 

The new government had failed to create a judiciary. Thus 
all three departments of the proposed new government were totally 
inoperative. Dorr's adherents were daily falling away and desert- 
ing his standard. 

On the 1 6th of May, Dorr, elated by the empty promises of 
Tammany, his head completely turned by the flattery of the Dem- 
ocracy of New York City, appeared in Providence. A large com- 
pany greeted him on his arrival and escorted him to the residence 
of Burrington Anthony, where the 'Governor proposed to establish 
his headquarters. 

Dorr now asserted that he had been promised the aid of 5,000 
men and that he could have them at any time. And — poor, deluded 
mortal ! he believed it too. He was sure of assistance enough from 
New York to overcome any force the United States might use 
against him and his party in Rhode Island. 

In an address that he published in The Express, the Suffrage 
organ, he said: "It has become my duty to say, that so soon as a 
soldier of the United States shall be set in motion, by whatever di- 
rection, to act against the people of this state, in aid of the Charter 
government, I shall call for that aid [from New York] to opposa 



69 

such force, which I am fully authorized to say, will be immediately 
and most cheerfully tendered to the service of the people of Rhode 
Island from the City of New York and from other places. The 
contest will then become national and our state the battle-ground 
of American Freedom." 

Meantime his friends in New York kept up the agitation. A 
call for a meeting in the Park in front of City Hall was signed 
by such men as Stephen Allen, John I. Morgan, Walter Bowne, 
A. Vanderpoel, William C. Bryant, Samuel J. Tilden, Elijah F. 
Purdy, Alexander Stewart and Levi D. Slamm. 

Surely Governor Dorr had some respectable names among his 
supporters in New York. Different newspapers reported the num- 
ber present at this out-door meeting from 3,000 to 12,000. 

ATTACK ON THE ARSENAL. 

Events hastened. In the early morning of May 18th Governor 
Dorr made the famous attack upon the arsenal upon the borders of 
the Dexter Training Ground. 

He had taken no pains to organize a proper force from the 
militia and this bold attack upon the state arsenal was made by a 
small mob of persons not drilled in military tactics, and without 
competent officers. It was in the midst of a dense fog. The arsenal 
was well manned by troops, both infantry and artillery. This de- 
fence was wholly by state troops, no Federal troops being nearer 
than at Fort Adams, Newport. 

The following brief account of this semi-engagement is taken 
verbatim, from an article published in The American Historical 
Review, January 1898: 

"The attacking force failed to obtain a peaceful surrender, and 
Governor Dorr ordered that one of his cannons should be fired. 
The audacity of this order can scarcely be conceived. In a dense 
fog, with less than two hundred men, with almost no ammunition 



70 

for their two cannon, the order is given to fire upon a building built 
of stone, stocked with powder and balls, and fully guarded. If a 
gun has been fired, the cannons in the arsenal might have mown 
down the unprotected attacking force. But the guns did no)t go 
off. They were flashed twice but without result. The attack was 
a failure." No blood was shed, but the little band was compelled 
to withdraw from the field. Governor Dorr would have fired upon 
the arsenal, had he been able. If he had succeeded, he would very 
possibly have fallen at the first return fire. In any case, doubtless, 
the sound of the first gun, on that foggy night, would have 
caused blind attack and counter attack, and great loss of life might 
easily have followed. The New York friends of the People's Gov- 
ernor are not responsible for the failure to begin a real civil war in 
Rhode Island. 

Dorr was thoroughly beaten. His friends had deserted him. 
He had shown that he was no military man. He was not an in- 
spiring leader. Moreover, he did not know when he was beaten. 
He still counted on pledged support to the extent of 1,3100 men. 
We shall soon see how terribly disappointed he must have been in 
the result of his next attempt. 

Many members of the People's Government resigned. For 
thirty days, or about that, there were no wars, but only "rumors of 
wars." 

A SECOND VISIT TO NEW YORK. 

Governor Dorr again visited New York. There he received 
much sympathy though little material assistance. He left New 
York on Tuesday, June 21st to return to Rhode Island. The next 
morning he arrived in Norwich, Connecticut, on the steamboat 
New Haven. With him was the "Spartan Band," a small number 
of men, not more than twenty, under the command of "Mike 
Walsh." 



71 

Dorr at once sent an order to convene a council of military of- 
ficers at Chepachet, to determine whether any step should be taken 
at rthis time or not. 

MILITARY CAMP AT CHEPACHET. 

He hastened to Chepachet. A few were already there. Shortly 
men began to appear. Day ofter day the number increased. It 
certainly was a motley crew. Scarcely two hundred men, all told, 
were enrolled, thus forming Dorr's Army. A few slight breast- 
works were thrown up on Acote's Hill. 

This whole movement was — although threatening to prove a 
tragedy — merely a laughable farce. 

The de facto government was seriously frightened. Surely 
there were rumors of wars. It was currently reported in Providence 
that Dorr was at the head of an army of 2,000 disciplined men, 
well armed, and that this army was on the march to Providence, to 
demand its surrender ; if refused they would bombard the city. 

The fright of the Charter Government was only exceeded by 
the fear of the Dorrites on Acote's Hill. 

"A BODY OF MEN" ARRESTED. 

Let me quote the following incident : "The report came late in 
the evening of Wednesday, June 22nd, that a body of men had been 
seen approaching the village along the turnpike. Guards were 
posted at the entrance to the village, and one or two hours after 
midnight the entire hositile force, consisting of four men, were ar- 
rested and lodged in a barn. Two were travelling from Providence 
to Killingly, Conn., and the other two had been sent out by the 
Executive Council to see what movements were being made at 
Chepachet. The four men were bound together, and between the 
files of a company of soldiers, were compelled at once to walk the 
twelve miles to Woonsocket. Throughout the march they were 



harshly treated, and one became so exhausted that he had to be 
carried. Reaching Woonsocket at six in the morning the four men 
were taken to a hill which seemed to be the headquarters of the 
so-called Suffragists. After a couple of hours delay, the men were 
permitted to go, no reason being found for holding them." 

May I be permitted, just at this place, to give my own testimony 
of what I saw and had knowledge of at the time. 

THE STORY OF GENERAL DE WOLFE. 

One of my neighbors, living near the Rhode Island line, but in 
the town of Uxbridge, Worcester County, Massachusetts, was 
Capt. Henry De Wolfe. He had served as a captain of the Militia 
in that town. He early espoused the cause of Governor Dorr, 
was with him in his disastrous attack upon the Arsenal in Provi- 
dence, May 17, and was in command at Atwells Avenue later. 
He joined Dorr at Chepachet and it was reported that the Governor 
made him his ranking General. After a few days on duty there he 
left the camp to visit his home to get a supply of clean linen. On 
arriving at his father's house, he learned that Governor King had 
sent a requisition to Governor Davis of Massachusetts for his arrest. 

The doughty general was not safe anywhere. He was as liable 
to arrest in the Bay State as he was in the Providence Plantations. 
He was frightened. He knew not what to do. In this dilemma he 
came up to the house of my grandfather, a sturdy Quaker, then 
sixty-four years old, and laid the case before him, asking for his ad- 
vice as to what he had better do. "Do, Henry," said "Uncle Gideon" 
(as he was generally called) "do, Henry, I'll tell thee what to do. 
Thee go home and write a letter to Governor Davis and tell him that 
if he will let thee alone thee'l stay at home and behave thyself." I'll 
do it," said Henry. 

So, General Henry De Wolfe went home and wrote an abject 
letter to Governor Davis, saying that he had been deceived, and that 



73 

he was sorry that he had got embroiled in the unpleasant affairs of 
Rhode Island, and that if he was not molested, he would stay at 
home and demean himself properly. 

This letter he brought over and read to "Uncle Gideon," and 
asked his opinion of it. 

"That is all right, Henry. Thee send it along by mail and my 
word for it the Governor will not trouble thee.' 

So it was sent and Davis at once answered assuring De Wolfe 
that if he stayed away from Rhode Island he would not be molested. 

But, now, what should the quasi-general do. He must busy 
himself in some way. One neighbor, Mr. Morse, lived between us 
and De Wolfe. He was busy with several hired men in hoeing a 
large field of corn. He hired De Wolfe to help him in hoeing the 
corn. He also engaged me as a boy to ride the horse in plowing 
between the rows of corn. So, it happened that the next day 
General De Wolfe, Dorr's first general, and I were working all 
day in the same field. 

Afterwards I heard Mr. Morse say that during the day De 
Wolfe in his conversation favored the "Algerines," as the "Law 
and Order" government was called, and was opposed to the 
"Dorrites." Mr. Morse said that at one time in the afternoon De 
Wolfe proposed to Morse that they they should both go over to 
Harrisville and join the "Algerine" forces. 

"You fool," said Morse. "You've just got out of one bad 
scrape, and now you propose to jump into another. You may find 
it to be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire." 

But something quite as astounding happened that night, for 
the next day the men brought the General's hoe to the field, but 
he, himself, did not appear. Mr. Morse gave this account of it. 
He said that during the night there was a tremendous pounding 
on his outer door, which waked him from a sound sleep. 



74 

"Who's there?" inquired Morse. 

"This is Captain Brown of Ironstone" (a small village not far 
away). 

Now Captain Brown was a staunch Dorrite. 

"What do you want?" 

"Is General De Wolfe here?" 

"Yes, he's here. Who wants him?" 

"I would like to see him a few minutes." 

"Very well. I'll call him." 

So Morse awoke De Wolfe and sent him out to see Captain 
Brown. After a while he came in, awakened Mr. Morse, and asked 
him if he would lend him a clean collar and shirt-bosom. He said 
he was going away for a little time. Morse told him where he 
would find the articles, and went to sleep again. But De Wolfe 
did not return, and before night the next day we laborers in the 
cornfield learned that he returned to Chepachet (only some seven 
or eight miles away), and that Governor Dorr had reinstated him 
as General of his forces. 

DORR DISBANDS HIS ARMY. 

On Monday, June 27th, about 7 o'clock in the evening, Walter 
S. Burges received a letter from Chepachet, enclosing one addressed 
to the publishers of the "Express," the Dorrite paper, which read 
as follows : 

"Gloucester, R. I., June 27, 1842. 

"To the Publishers of the 'Express,' Providence, R. I. 

"Having received such information as induces me to believe 
that a majority of the friends of the People's Constitution dis- 
approve of any further forcible measures for its support ; and be 
lieving that .a conflict of arms would, therefore, under existing 
circumstances, be but a personal controversy among different por- 
tions of our citizens, I hereby direct that the military here assem- 
bled be dismissed by their respective officers. 

"T. W. Dorr, 
"Commander-in-Chief." 



75 

Governor Dorr and his friends went at once to Connecticut.* 
The State line was only about eight or nine miles from Chepachet. 
A small company of men from New York, perhaps twenty, under 
command of "Mike" Walsh, went with him. Dorr soon after went 
to New Hampshire, where he remained for more than a year. 
Gov.ernor Cleaveland of Connecticut and Governor Hubbard of 
New Hampshire refused to honor the requisition from Governor 
King for his arrest. 

Now, while the "People's Governor" stays away from Rhode 
Island, let us consider his course of action in those troublous times. 
We have already seen that he was a strong man, with decided 
principles, public spirited, and true to his convictions of right. He 
did not disband his forces because he was afraid that his army was 
not strong enough to cope with the State troops being brought 
against him. He was always truly democratic. He disbanded his 
forces at Chepachet because, as he himself said, he had "received 
such information as induced [him] to believe that a majority of the 
friends of the People's Constitution disapproved of any further 
forcible measures for its support." 



*He went directly to the house of Andrew Horton, in Thompson. Mr. 
Horton secreted him in his house, until he left Connecticut and went to New 
Hampshire. A pocket-book is now in the possession of Andrew Horton of 
Woonsocket,, R. I., son of that Andrew Horton of Woonsocket which was 
presented to the senior Horton by Aaron White, one of the "nine lawyers" who 
figured conspicuously in the suffrage movement. In this pocket-book is the 
following inscription in the handwriting of Mr. White, the donor. 

"This Pocket Book is presented by Aaron White, Jr., of Cumberland, 
R. I., to Andrew Horton, of Thompson, Ct., to be kept by said Andrew as a 
certificate that on the 30th day of June, 1842, said Andrew nobly preferred 
the recollection of having done a good deed to the possession of a Reward of 
Five Thousand Dollars which was offered and might have been obtained by 
him had he chosen to accept it.'' 

The "good deed" mentioned refers to the fact that the sum of $5,000 had 
been offered by Governor King for the arrest of Governor Dorr. This ac- 
count was given to me by Darius D. Farnum, Esq., of Woonsocket. He 
copied the certificate from the pocket-book. 



76 
dorr's mistakes. 

Dorr was honest and conscientious. He was no time-server. 
But he made most egregious blunders. 

i. He was not enough of a politician to get possession of 
the State archives on the 3d and 4th of May. That was a fatal 
mistake. But it was the mistake of his co-workers, advisers and 
followers, rather than his own. 

2. It was his misfortune rather than his fault that he did not 
have strong advisers and co-workers. 

3. He had no military ability whatever. The attack on the 
Arsenal was criminally stupid, and his attempt to organize an army 
at Chepachet to contend with the State forces, then being gath- 
ered against him, was too silly to be conceived by any sane mind. 

4. It was another fatal blunder, when he lost his head through 
the flattery of the Tammanyites of New York. 

It seems incredible that a pure, unselfish man, honest and con- 
scientious, a real statesman, should make such a series of outrageous 
blunders. But such is the fact. Let us not, however, fail to judge 
him fairly. Let us not perpetuate the prejudices which most Rhode 
Islanders have cherished for more than three score years, and 
think that he was without honesty, or without ability. 

HIS TRIAL, CONVICTION AND IMPRISONMENT. 

We will now very briefly look at his trial, conviction of treason, 
life in the State Prison, pardon, rights restored, justification by 
the majority of the Rhode Island Legislature, and his untimely 
death. 

Dorr's life struggle had failed. His government had reached 
an ignominious end. The People's Constitution had been ignored, 
but a new Constitution had been adopted, under which the laws of 



77 

Rhode Island were administered, and this new Constitution gave 
the people substantially the rights for which Dorr had so faithfully 
and persistently labored. Dorr was an outlaw, charged with treason, 
and a reward of Five Thousand Dollars offered for his capture. 

Under these circumstances, knowing that he would at once 
be arrested, and tried before the Supreme Court of the State, the 
Judges being already pronounced enemies to him and opposed to 
his entire course, knowing also that the people of Rhode Island 
were mainly prejudiced against him — it certainly required a high 
degree of courage to return voluntarily to his native State and 
place himself in the hands of his enemies. 

But he was honest in his conviction that his cause had been 
right, and, as he had himself said: "Rights and duties are not 
taken away by a failure of arms, nor are they measured by de- 
grees of success or failure." He wished to have the question 
settled, whether he was a felon or a patriot. He had faith in his 
cause, and believed he would be exonerated. 

Therefore, he returned voluntarily to Rhode Island, and after 
full consultation with his friends, on the last day of October, 1843, 
he quietly walked into the City Hotel in Providence, and was quickly 
arrested and taken to jail. There he remained until the last day 
of February, 1844, when he was taken before the Supreme Court, 
then sitting at Newport. His trial was set for April 26th, 1844, 
the Judges being Chief Justice Job Durfee and Associate Justices 
Levi Haile, William R. Staples, and George A. Brayton. 

Mr. Dorr conducted his own case, assisted by George Turner 
of Newport and Walter S. Burges of Providence. 

"There was no attempt on the part of the defence to deny any 
of the facts ; it merely sought to show justification." The jury 
rendered a verdict of guilty, at 2 o'clock on the morning of May 7th. 

HIS SENTENCE. 

Mr. Dorr was sentenced by Chief Justice Durfee, June 20th. 
The sentence was for treason against the State of Rhode Island, 
and was in these words: 



78 

"That the said Thomas Wilson Dorr be imprisoned in the 
State Prison at Providence, for the term of his natural life, and 
there kept at hard labor in separate confinement." 

The closing words of Mr. Dorr in his address to the Court, 
when asked why sentence should not be pronounced upon him, 
were these : 

"I am bound, in duty to myself, to express to you my deep and 
solemn conviction that I have not received at your hands the fair 
trial by an impartial jury to which by law and justice I was entitled." 

On the 22nd of June, 1844, Thomas Wilson Dorr was taken 
to Providence and placed in the State Prison for life. 

But he was right when he told the judges that he had not 
received at their hands a fair trial. 

HIS TRIAL NOT A FAIR ONE. 

I will not carry you through the tedious labyrinths of that 
long trial. I will, in the briefest language, tell you why I think 
Governor Dorr did not have a fair trial. 

1. The judges were all prejudiced, utterly disqualified, before 
the trial began. 

2. The jury, to a man, were disqualified. They were, every 
man of them, Algerines and Whigs. Out of the entire panel of 118 
men, only three belonged to the Democratic party, which at that 
time was practically the Dorrite party. 

3. Dorr's offense was committed in Providence county, but 
the powers would not allow the trial to be held in that county. They 
felt that it were safer for them in Newport county. 

4. Dorr claimed that what he did was done as Governor of the 
State, but the Court would allow no proof to be produced that he 
was Governor. Chief Justice Durfee settled the matter for the jury 
in few words. His dictum was this : "If the prisoner was Gov- 
ernor of the State, the evidence of it is a certificate of record from 
the proper officer." 



79 

Dorr had failed to establish his People's Constitution, had 
failed to secure the archives of the State, failed to get into his 
hands the reins of government. He had been arrested and tried 
for treason, and he must be convicted and sent to prison. He was 
convicted, and he was sent to State's Prison for life. 

I am not defending Dorr's course. I am not saying the he 
ought not to have been convicted of treason against the State. 
What I do say is merely this: That he did not have a fair and 
impartial trial. That trial was the merest farce. 

A STRIKING REACTION. 

The natural reaction set in. Governor Dorr's parents, an aged 
couple, petitioned the General Assembly to pardon their son. That 
body, in January, 1845, tne h- first meeting after his conviction, 
passed a vote that "the prayer be so far granted that Thomas W. 
Dorr be liberated from his confinement in the State Prison upon 
his taking the following oath or affirmation. 

"I do solemnly swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance 
to the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations ; and that 
I will support the Constitution and laws of this State and of the 
United States : So help me God." 

With Dorr's views, it would have been inconsistent to accept 
pardon on any such terms. He declined to take the oath and re- 
mained in prison. Here he was consistent. 

HIS PARDON BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 

But, on the 27th day of June, 1845, the General Assembly 
passed an act "to pardon certain offences against the sovereign 
power of this State, and to quiet the minds of the good people 
thereof." This act provided for the discharge from prison of "any 
person who has been convicted of the crime of treason against the 
State and is now in prison under sentence of the law." 



80 

This was just a year from the time the prison doors had closed 
upon Governor Dorr. He had been a prisoner six months before 
his sentence. A full year and a half, therefore, had he suffered 
imprisonment, as he had consistently contended, for his best efforts 
to secure for the majority of the men of Rhode Island what he 
believed to be their just rights. He had failed to uphold the Peo- 
ple's Constitution, but a new Constitution had been adopted, by 
which the people secured those rights. 

Six years later, in May, 1851, a resolution, passed by the Gen- 
eral Assembly, restored to Mr. Dorr his civil and political rights. 

SENTENCE REVERSED AND ANNULLED. 

Tardy justice was not done yet, in the opinion of many. In 
1853 a strong Democratic wave swept the State, and in 1854, with 
a Democratic majority in both House and Senate and a Demo- 
cratic Governor, elected by a majority of more than 2,000 votes, in 
February the General Assembly passed an act reversing and annull- 
ing the judgment of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island rendered 
against Thomas W. Dorr. 

This act criticised some of the features of the trial of Dorr, 
affirmed that he had been wrongfully convicted and that these 
wrongs should be redressed. 

Mr. Arthur May Mowry, in his book, "The Constitutional 
Struggle in Rhode Island," a work which I have freely used in the 
preparation of this paper, says : 

"Since the English forefathers had been in the habit of revers- 
ing judgments by acts of Parliament, and since the Charter granted 
to the General Assembly the right 'to alter, revoke, annul or pardon 
such fines, mulcts, imprisonments, sentences, judgments and con- 
demnations as shall be thought fit,' and since the new Constitution 
continued to the General Assembly the powers heretofore exercised, 
therefore, it decreed that the judgment against Thomas Wilson 



Dorr, 'Hereby repealed, reversed, annulled, and declared to be as 
if it had never been rendered.' The clerk of the Supreme Court 
for the County of Newport was ordered to 'write across the face 
of the record of said judgment the words, "Reversed and Annulled 
by Order of the General Assembly, at their January Session, A. D. 
1854."'" 

But, could any act of the General Assembly redress the injury 
which had been done to Governor Dorr? At less than fifty years 
of age he was a brokendown man. I saw him but once. It was in 
the Autumn of 1854. In the afternoon of a beautiful day he had' 
taken a ride, and I saw him as he stepped out of the carriage and 
walked off to his home. He was then weak and infirm. He died 
the 27th of December, 1854 — just past the age of 49 years. 

The story told in this paper is unique. No other State in our 
Union, or perhaps elsewhere, has ever had any such experience as 
this was for Rhode Island. Each party was stubborn. Families 
were divided. Feeling ran high. Animosity was rampant. Preju- 
dice controlled almost everything. The most bitter feelings pre- 
vailed. 

ANECDOTE OF FATHER WILLIAMS AND GENERAL CARPENTER. 

A single incident will illustrate this : 

Rev. Thomas Williams, D. D., was an eccentric preacher. He 
was a man of great ability and power, and much respected by every- 
body. Thomas F. Carpenter was one of the leading Suffragists. 
Under the People's Constitution he was first nominated for Gov- 
ernor. He refused to accept, and thus Dorr became the nominee 
and was elected. Carpenter was prominent all through the troubles 
— one of the most eminent "Dorrites." He was a great admirer 
of "Father Williams." Meeting him one day, after the Dorr strug- 
gle was all over, Mr. Carpenter greeted Williams very cordially, in- 
quired for his health, and said: "How I should like to hear you 
preach once more." 



"If you had been where you ought to be, you might have hear 1 
me preach last Sabbath," was the reply. 

"Where did you hold forth last Sabbath, Father Williams?" 
"In the State Prison," was the reply. 

dorr's famous prophecies. 

While Governor Dorr was broken in health, a physical wreck, 
yet to the last his head was clear and his brain active. The follow 
ing incident illustrates his power of thought : 

During the Autumn of 1853, after the beginning of the trou- 
bles between Russia and Turkey, which brought on the Crimean 
War, so-called, Mr. Dorr wrote a series of articles upon that con- 
troversy, which were published in the Providence Herald. In the 
closing article of the series he ventured to speak of the probabili- 
ties for the future. In this article occur the following passages: 

"Poorly as the world must think of such a mode of acquisition 
on the part of England, still the people of Turkey and the East 
would be gainers by the act. English civilization is the only civiliza- 
tion which has proved itself capable, in modern times, of rearing 
great and permanent free states. This civilization, with industry 
and commerce in its train, would revive the finest portion of the 
earth, now almost a wilderness of ruin, and bring back those days 
of prosperity which the records of history tell of, but which, in 
contrast with present appearances, seem almost fabulous. If Con- 
stantinople were possessed by England, a new and large Continental 
England would arise, surpassing the former in all the elements of 
greatness." 

"The world is now rapidly tending to the aggregation or con- 
solidation of nations into a few great empire states. England and 
Russia already excel the Roman Empire. France is aiming at fur- 
ther annexations of territory. Germany will be, before many years, 
united in a confederation. Asia, west of the British dominions. 



83 

will fall into the hands of Russia or England. China and Japan 
will be Anglicised or Americanized. The United States will take 
in the whole continent of America. The Australian Island will 
become a Federal Republic. 

"Africa will exhibit a line of French provinces on the north, a 
Liberian Republic in the West, an Egypto-British State in the 
north and east, and another Republic in the South. 

"That under this new arrangement and vast aggregation of 
powers, the battles of freedom will be fought over again, Russia 
marshalling the East against the West, we are not permitted to 
doubt. 

"Nor is it less certain that our own Republic, destined to be- 
come the greatest of all nations unless arrested by the suicidal dis- 
solution of the Union, will give the casting vote, with a mailed 
hand, in favor of the freedom and progress of the race. 

"The grand inference to be deduced, in every view of our 
position and duty, is then, that Americans ought to improve and 
hold fast their own institutions, elevate their national character, 
render this the abode of the highest intelligence and of a truly 
Christian civilization, as well as of the most successful industry ; 
that thus our Republic may be in readiness, when called upon in 
the future to decide the fate of nations, to hold up for their imita- 
tion the example of a State whose institutions are more conducive 
to the greatest freedom and welfare of mankind than all the world 
has ever seen." 

Are not these the words of a statesman? A man who could 
see into the future as he saw, could interpret the signs of the times 
more than half a century ago, as he foresaw and interpreted— 
surely such a man was an independent thinker, endowed with a 
high order of intellect. 



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